DONOR | Joey's Story

Joey Bachand

Hannah Gelinas Needs A LIVING Liver DONOR

Hannah needs your help

Hannah is the most selfless person I know. From family, to friends, to coworkers she has always put others first. Her caring and loving personality is what I admire about her most. She is the first to offer a helping hand when people are in a time of need. Now she finds herself in a time of need, hoping to find a living donor for a liver transplant.

Hannah is a trooper in every sense of the word. However, her illness has taken a toll on her body. While she is the strongest person I know, the physical effects are noticeable. She is easily fatigued, and simple tasks can seem daunting at times. Her body also struggles to recover from minor injuries. Still, she remains positive and optimistic while she faces the frightening realization of her liver failure.

A transplant for Hannah would mean a new lease on life, as well as hope for a long fulfilling life. Hannah would be able to get back to the fun filled, joyous life she lived before being diagnosed with liver failure. She would find a new found energy and confidence that have been absent for the past year and a half.

Others can help by sharing Hannah's story.

START YOUR JOURNEY

Become Hannah Gelinas's Donor

If you are considering being a living donor please use links below to contact Hannah Gelinas's Transplant Center. Begin by completing the donor questionnaire

Fill Out DONOR Questionnaire
(INQUIRES ARE 100% CONFIDENTIAL)

Becoming a Liver DONOR Find a Transplant Center near you

Yale New Haven Transplantation Center

333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06520

(866) 925-3897 Email Transplant Center

Did you know?

Medical expenses for living organ donors are 100% covered, and inquires from potential donors are 100% confidential! Contact the Transplant Center to learn more about living donation.

More Donor FAQs

Share the Importance of Living Donation

Liver transplantation has been a successful treatment and standard of care for end-stage liver disease since the early 1980s.

Technical advancements in liver surgery, as well as the liver's tremendous ability to regenerate, have made living donor liver transplantation a life-saving reality.

There are currently 120,000 people waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant in the U.S. Of these, 15,000 await liver transplants.

Although more than 6,000 liver transplants were performed last year, over 1,700 patients died while waiting on the list.

Deceased donor livers are allocated to patients based on how sick they are, determined by their MELD score, where sicker patients receive priority.

Living donation offers patients the option of transplant before they get very sick--regardless of MELD score--significantly decreasing the time they wait for a liver.

Living donation not only saves the life of the recipient; it also frees up a liver for a patient on the waiting list who does not have that option.

The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) are numerical, objective scales that allocate available livers to the sickest patients. Patients move up the list as their scores increase.

The first living donor liver transplant took place in 1988. Since then, living donors have continued giving the gift of life and making a difference.

When a recipient has a living donor, the wait time for transplant is shorter and the transplant can be scheduled in advanced when the recipient is in good health and when it is convenient for both the donor and the recipient.

Financial burdens shouldn’t prevent the gift of life. The National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC) can offer financial support for living donor travel expenses.

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Joey's Patient

Hannah

Liver DONOR NEEDED

The fluctuating symptoms and deep concerns about future life pose an increased personal suffering -

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