Wilmington, DE resident, Marco, was a healthy child with no signs of illness. Then when he was 14, he went to the doctor for a minor health issue, and was told that his liver would need to be tested in order to be prescribed a medication. His test results showed that his liver enzymes were extremely high, and he was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis – a rare autoimmune disease that was affecting his liver. In some cases, the disease progresses slowly. In others, it aggressively deteriorates the affected individual’s health. Marco was fortunate to have several healthy years that enabled him to graduate from both high school and college.
His life started to change rapidly towards the end of his college career, when he began to suffer from extreme fatigue and jaundice. He had several bouts in the hospital and was listed on the organ transplant waitlist for a liver. “Marco isn’t the type of guy to make a big deal about things.” said Beth Carlough, Marco’s mother. “He became very thin and barely was able to function, basically only moving from the bed to the sofa every day as he became worse. I don’t think people can understand how scary it is to have a sick child until something like this happens to you.”
Doctors told Marco that there was no guarantee that a liver would be available for him, and encouraged him to look into living organ donation. Unfortunately, no one in his family was able to be a living donor. That’s when something extraordinary happened. Wendy Nowicki, a woman who had previously worked with Beth, reached out to her for more information about becoming a living donor.
“When Wendy told me that her husband, Garren, wanted to get tested to be a living donor for Marco, I was so amazed. We are like family and I’m the godmother of their first born, but this is something really serious and big. For someone to put themselves out like that and do this for my son, it just blew me away.” said Beth.
After extensive testing, he was a match. “Garren is such a giving and kind person.” said Beth. “The day of the transplant, he walked into the hospital calm and relaxed. He really made us feel like he was happy to do this and that it wasn’t a big deal.”
Post-transplant, both men are doing well and have a strong bond. This November, it will be six years since Garren gave Marco a second chance at life. In honor of Garren’s selflessness and to help raise awareness and funding for organ and tissue donation, the two families formed a team for Gift of Life’s Donor Dash. They have been participating in the event for more than eight years.
“The first year that we went to the Dash, Marco walked. Today, he is able to run the 5K! It’s a really big highlight of our year. We get to see all of the people – like us – who have been affected by transplantation – those who are sick and still waiting, recipients and donor families – it’s all very touching.” said Beth.
Beth said, “I never thought anyone could be so brave to help my son, but Garren was. That’s why our Dash team is named after him, ‘Garren’s Gift.’ I believe that we are all put here to help others. Transplantation has truly shown me what we can do for other people. It makes me happy to see Marco healthy now. He is a young man that is full of life and opportunity.”