Split Liver Transplant Saves Two Lives
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Split Liver Transplant Saves Two Lives

College Student Shares Liver with Infant

Just before Maggie Catherwood closed her eyes for surgery, her doctor presented her with an opportunity to save someone else’s life.

The 21-year-old Sterling resident was admitted into Georgetown University Hospital Saturday, Feb. 24, to receive a liver transplant. She was diagnosed with Wilson’s Disease, which causes the body to retain copper, and the liver does not release copper into the bile as it should, and causes severe stomach pains, in September 2006. She went into liver failure days before surgery.

Before she underwent surgery, Dr. Thomas Fishbein asked the college student if she would split her liver with 8-month-old Allison Brown of Waldorf, Md.

Catherwood, a student at Shenandoah University, said she had never heard of the procedure before Fishbein approached her. But she went with her instincts and said yes.

"It wasn’t a difficult decision at all," Catherwood said. If you can save a life, do it. It should be the law."

CATHERWOOD MET the Brown family weeks after the surgeries.

"It was amazing to see her for the first time," she said.

Allison’s mother, Terry Brown, said she was aware of the procedure, but didn’t realize doctors could split a liver between an adult and child.

"I didn’t realize it could be done like that," she said. "I just wish more people knew about it. If more people knew about it, maybe they would be willing to do it, too."

Terry Brown said her daughter was in dire need of a liver transplant. It was through another procedure that Allison Brown’s doctors discovered a vein in her esophagus that was extremely large and could "erupt at any moment," Terry Brown said.

"It would have been a grave situation if Maggie said no. We’d still be waiting. Who knows what would’ve happened," Terry Brown said. "She’s given us our family."

NOW, CATHERWOOD goes to checkups at the Washington, D.C., hospital once a week.

"Just to stay on top of things," she said.

Catherwood makes sure to visit Allison Brown and her family before she leaves.

"I check in to say hi. Her mom’s always there," Catherwood said. "She’s had a few setbacks, but we’re both doing wonderfully."

FOR CATHERWOOD, it happened so fast.

"I got sick in September. Before I knew it, I was in the hospital. Then, I met Allison," she said. "If I could do it all over again, I would. I don’t know how anyone could say no."

For Terry Brown, Catherwood’s decision "meant the world," she said.

"I do realize the risks of this procedure, it might not be for everybody," she said, "but if more people would get information on it, it might change some lives. It changed ours."