Ethan: Transplant Games Champion
When a mother hears the words “your baby needs a transplant in order to survive” is something that alters someone’s life…forever. Sadly, we heard those very words when Ethan was 3 months old. Our lives were drastically altered from that day forward.
Over the next few months, we went through tears, anger and fear. At the age of 6 months, Ethan needed to be added to the very long organ donation wait list. This was a very challenging time for our family, waiting, knowing Ethan was getting sicker each day and that only a transplant would save his life. It is a feeling I would never want any family to ever endure.
It was at this time that we also learned that Ethan could receive a liver from a living donor, something we didn’t even know existed! Ethan’s cousin Adam, approached us and said he wanted to be Ethan’s living donor. After a few months of testing we found out that Adam was indeed a match for Ethan. At 11 months old, Ethan received the gift of life from his angel on Earth, Adam.
We are beyond grateful to Adam for saying “YES” to being a living donor. We urge others to say “YES” to organ, tissue and eye donation by registering online, or getting tested to be a living kidney or liver donor. There are over 100,000 people in the US awaiting a life-saving organ transplant, therefore we need more heroes like Adam.
A New Opportunity
The road post-transplant era has had its ups and downs, but one of the most amazing discoveries was joining Team Wisconsin, a group of transplant and donor champions committed to raising awareness about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation—while building excitement and encouraging participation in the Transplant Games of America, which Ethan attended for the first time in July 2022 in San Diego. He competed in table tennis, cornhole and golf doubles. Watching Ethan at the Games was amazing – he was with “his people”. I felt like I was watching Ethan be himself for the first time. Everyone at the Transplant Games is connected in a special way. And everyone we met had a story that they shared. Ethan made connections with so many people; the comradery, support and love the team showed him was overwhelming. He came home not only with gold medals, but so much more.
Being on Team Wisconsin was life-changing for Ethan and something that I knew then he would choose to continue to have as a part of his life in the future. Ethan next attended the 2024 games in Birmingham, AL. It felt like a family reunion, seeing people we had met in 2022, getting to know new members of the transplant family, and again, seeing in person just what an immense ripple effect the impact organ donation has on everyone it touches. We are now preparing and getting excited for the next Games in Denver in June 2026!
Being a transplant kid is not an easy path in life, but being a part of something bigger like Team Wisconsin has been one of the most impactful parts of Ethan’s journey and Ethan and I would love to have more transplant recipients, especially kids, share in this life-changing experience.
Learn more about the Transplant Games and how to contact Team Wisconsin!