WOULD NOT BE HERE TODAY. THIS. THIS IS A STORY ABOUT FAMILY, FRIEND, FRIENDS AND FAITH FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE WAS A MIRACLE AND THERE WERE SO MANY MIRACLES INVOLVED IN THE WHOLE PROCESS. FOR 39 YEAR OLD LAUREN BLACKWELL, HER MIRACLE CAME IN THE FORM OF A FRIENDSHIP WITH MEG DOMINGUE, WHO HELPED TO GIVE HER THE GIFT OF LIFE. AND THEN IN 19, WE FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS THIS LIVER DISORDER, THIS LIVER DISEASE, AUTOIMMUNE, AUTOIMMUNE. AND THEN IT AFFECTS YOUR LIVER. IN 2019, LAUREN WAS DIAGNOSED WITH PRIMARY BILIARY CIRRHOSIS, AN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE, AND A RARE LIVER DISEASE THAT AFFECTS THE BILE DUCTS IN THE LIVER. SHE SUFFERED WITH ITCHY SKIN, FATIGUE AND OTHER SYMPTOMS FOR YEARS AND DESPERATELY NEEDED A NEW LIVER TO LIVE. SHE HAS A TERMINAL DIAGNOSIS, SO SHE WASN’T GOING TO GET A LIVER. THEN SHE WOULD PASS AWAY. SO FOR ME IT WAS A VERY EASY DECISION TO MAKE. SHE NEEDED A LIVER. I HAD A LIVER. AND SO IT WAS REALLY JUST THAT SIMPLE. BUT THE PROCESS WAS COMPLICATED. MEG DONATED 60% OF HER LIVER TO LAUREN, BUT ONCE INSIDE HER BODY, THERE WERE MAJOR BLOOD FLOW ISSUES AND THEY COULDN’T USE MEG’S LIVER. SO LAUREN WAS PLACED ON TOP OF THE TRANSPLANT LIST AND THEY WAITED FOR A NEW LIVER TO ARRIVE FROM A DECEASED DONOR. THE DOCTORS WERE SAYING THEY DIDN’T REALIZE HOW BAD IT WAS FOR ME. THEY DIDN’T REALIZE HOW BAD MY LIVER HAD GOTTEN. DOCTORS SAID LAUREN WAS SO ILL SHE WAS, QUOTE, HANGING ON THE EDGE OF A CLIFF. JUST LIKE THIS PICTURE THEY TOOK LAST YEAR IN COLORADO SPRINGS, FORESHADOWING WHAT WAS TO COME. THAT’S LAUREN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CLIFF, AND THAT’S MEG AT THE TOP WITH ARM EXTENDED PULLING LAUREN UP. LAUREN MADE IT TO THE TOP THAT DAY ON THE ROCKS OCTOBER OF 2023. SO THEY PRAYED FOR THE SAME OUTCOME ON THE HOSPITAL BED. JANUARY 16TH OF 2024. AND THEN A MIRACLE HAPPENED. I DON’T THINK THE DOCTORS BELIEVED THAT I WOULD GET THE LIVER. UM, WHEN I GOT IT 20 MINUTES RIGHT WITHIN 20 MINUTES OF OF BEING NOTIFIED THAT IT WASN’T WORKING, THEY FOUND ANOTHER ONE. MEG’S LIVER SUSTAINED LAUREN. UNTIL THAT NEW LIVER ARRIVED. I’M JUST SO GRATEFUL. IT’S NOT THE PLAN THAT WE THOUGHT THAT GOD HAD FOR US, BUT IT’S, UM. YOU KNOW, HIS HIS PLAN WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. I THINK IT WAS JUST FOR ME TO GET LAUREN THERE TO, YOU KNOW, GO THROUGH THE PROCESS, GET HER THERE ON THE SURGERY TABLE FOR THAT DAY, THAT TIME TO GET THE LIVER THAT HE KNEW THAT SHE NEEDED. AND NOW, FOUR MONTHS LATER, MEG’S LIVER HAS REGENERATED. SHE IS FEELING GOOD, AND LAUREN IS FEELING HEALTHIER THAN EVER. SHE’S NOW ENJOYING TIME WITH LOVED ONES AND BUILDING MEMORIES. WITH A NEW LEASE ON LIFE AND WITH A NEW MEANING ON THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP. TO ME, IT’S SHE SAVED MY LIFE, YOU KNOW, UM, IF IT WASN’T FOR HER, I WOULDN’T BE HERE. AND ACCORDING TO THE U.S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, LIVER TRANSPLANTS CONTINUE TO GROW IN THE U.S, A RECORD NUMBER OF MORE THAN
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‘She saved my life’: Woman attempts to donate part of her liver to best friend
Updated: 12:33 AM EDT May 4, 2024
Thirty-nine-year-old Lauren Blackwell says she got a new lease on life thanks to her best friend, Meg Domangue.”She had a terminal diagnosis, so she wasn’t going to get a liver, then she would pass away. So, for me, it was a very easy decision to make. She needed a liver, I had a liver. So, it was really just that simple,” Domangue said.Blackwell was diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis in 2019, an autoimmune disease that affects the bile ducts in the liver.She suffered through itchy skin, fatigue and other symptoms for years, and desperately needed a new liver to live.So, her best friend, Domangue, donated 60 percent of her liver to Blackwell, and the operation took place on Jan. 16, 2024. But there were complications, and in the end, doctors couldn’t use Domangue’s liver.Blackwell was immediately placed on top of the transplant list, and they waited for a new liver to arrive from a deceased donor.”The doctors were saying they didn’t realize how bad it was for me. They didn’t realize how bad my liver had gotten,” Blackwell said.Blackwell says her family and friends all prayed for a miracle, and in 20 minutes, a new liver arrived.”I don’t think the doctors believed that I would get the liver when I got it in 20 minutes. I mean, within 20 minutes, they found another one,” Blackwell said.Domangue’s liver sustained Blackwell until that new liver arrived. Blackwell says she’ll always be thankful for her friend’s sacrifice.”Just I’m just so grateful,” Blackwell said.”It’s not the plan that we thought that God had for us. But, you know, his plan was something different. I think it was just for me to get Lauren in there to, you know, go through the process. Get her there on the surgery table for that day and give her that time to get the liver that he knew she needed,” Domangue said.Domangue’s liver has since regenerated, and she is feeling good.Blackwell is feeling healthier than ever, enjoying time with loved ones and building memories with a new lease on life and a new meaning on the gift of friendship.”And to me, she saved my life. You know, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here,” Blackwell said.
Thirty-nine-year-old Lauren Blackwell says she got a new lease on life thanks to her best friend, Meg Domangue.
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“She had a terminal diagnosis, so she wasn’t going to get a liver, then she would pass away. So, for me, it was a very easy decision to make. She needed a liver, I had a liver. So, it was really just that simple,” Domangue said.
Blackwell was diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis in 2019, an autoimmune disease that affects the bile ducts in the liver.
She suffered through itchy skin, fatigue and other symptoms for years, and desperately needed a new liver to live.
So, her best friend, Domangue, donated 60 percent of her liver to Blackwell, and the operation took place on Jan. 16, 2024. But there were complications, and in the end, doctors couldn’t use Domangue’s liver.
Blackwell was immediately placed on top of the transplant list, and they waited for a new liver to arrive from a deceased donor.
“The doctors were saying they didn’t realize how bad it was for me. They didn’t realize how bad my liver had gotten,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell says her family and friends all prayed for a miracle, and in 20 minutes, a new liver arrived.
“I don’t think the doctors believed that I would get the liver when I got it in 20 minutes. I mean, within 20 minutes, they found another one,” Blackwell said.
Domangue’s liver sustained Blackwell until that new liver arrived. Blackwell says she’ll always be thankful for her friend’s sacrifice.
“Just I’m just so grateful,” Blackwell said.
“It’s not the plan that we thought that God had for us. But, you know, his plan was something different. I think it was just for me to get Lauren in there to, you know, go through the process. Get her there on the surgery table for that day and give her that time to get the liver that he knew she needed,” Domangue said.
Domangue’s liver has since regenerated, and she is feeling good.
Blackwell is feeling healthier than ever, enjoying time with loved ones and building memories with a new lease on life and a new meaning on the gift of friendship.
“And to me, she saved my life. You know, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here,” Blackwell said.
