A woman with months to live was saved by her daughter, who donated a piece of her own liver.
Living donors help patients who may otherwise wait years for a deceased donor’s organ.
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In 2014, Bri Milankovich donated 60% of her liver to her mother, Jeannie Milankovich, who was given just months to live.
Jeannie was diagnosed with the most severe form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in 2013.
“One day, I just couldn’t get out of bed,” said Milankovich.
The transplant surgery happened at UPMC Montefiore three days after Bri graduated from nursing school.
Years later, Bri gets to tell her story to patients needing a liver transplant. She is living out her passion as a pre-transplant coordinator for UPMC, working with the same doctor who operated on her.
Being a living donor helps more people with end-stage liver disease, according to UPMC.
More than 70% of a liver can be taken out, it regenerates in eight weeks, and healthy people are usually a match.