Dear Friends,

I am writing to ask for your help. I am currently suffering from a life-threatening disease, end-stage liver failure. To survive, I need a liver transplant. I must either wait for a liver from a deceased donor or find someone who is willing to donate a portion of their liver. To receive a liver from a deceased donor, I have been added to the national transplant waitlist. The length of time I will wait depends on my blood type and a scoring system that gives priority to the people who are the sickest and most likely to die. I am already very sick and will get much sicker while I wait.

A living donor can be a family member, friend, or anyone who is healthy and volunteers to donate. They must have a blood type that is compatible with mine. My blood type is O+. In a living donor transplant, the doctors remove a portion of the donor’s liver and transplant it into me. Within three months, both the donor’s liver and my new liver will re-grow to the right size. My doctors at UCLA Health said the best option for me is to have a transplant from a living liver donor because the transplant can happen sooner and spare me and my family months or years of suffering. A transplant will help me get back to my normal activities.

I hope that you will consider being a living liver donor for me.

Living liver donors:
• must be healthy people who volunteer to donate
• go through a medical evaluation, including education about risks/benefits
• can change their minds any time, no questions asked
• are generally back to normal activities 6-8 weeks after the surgery
• are covered by my insurance for all costs related to the donation

If you are interested in becoming my liver donor, please contact the UCLA Living Donor Coordinator at 310-267-8713.

To learn more, you can read the information at: www.uclahealth.org/transplants/liver/living-donor-transplant.

I never thought I would be asking for this type of help. Please know that I will respect whatever you decide. If you wish to contact me directly you can reach me at the phone number below.

Sincerely yours,
Brian Popovac
(916) 200-8087