Brayden needed a liver transplant—and his donor was closer than anyone thought
Seven-year-old Brayden Auten’s liver was failing, and without a transplant, he had less than a week to live. Miraculously, a living donor was found in the nick of time—who happened to be a transplant nurse who worked in the hospital next door!
Monitors beeped as Cami Loritz entered the transplant ICU at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. She’d been in nursing school when her dad had donated a kidney to his brother, saving his life. Inspired by his amazing gift, Cami decided to become a transplant nurse. But as much as she loved her job, her heart would ache thinking about all the people who were still waiting for organs.
I’ d like to help someone in that way, Cami realized, and after doing some research, she discovered that because our livers regenerate, it would be possible for her to donate a part of her liver to someone in need—and there was currently a very high demand for liver transplants. So last March, Cami began the testing process to become a living liver donor. “I just want another family to know the relief and joy that my family experienced,” she explained, hope filling her heart.
Praying for a miracle
Cami was in the middle of the testing process when Ruth and James Auten’s 7-year-old son, Brayden, was admitted into the ICU of the adjoining Children’s Hospital. After being sent home from school with an upset tummy, Brayden’s eyes had developed a yellow cast. The doctor took one look and sent the Wrightstown, Wisconsin, family to the ER, where tests revealed Brayden’s liver was failing. It was soon determined that an unknown virus was attacking the organ. “There’s no treatment. All we can do is wait and hope his body can fight it off,” doctors explained.
Ruth and James sat at Brayden’s bedside in numb silence. Please, let him be okay, they prayed. But after a week, the news worsened. “The virus is winning,” the doctor declared, and told the couple their son had been placed on a transplant waiting list. “We could use a living donor, but they are usually very difficult to find.”
It wasn’t just a matter of finding someone willing to be a donor, the person’s blood vessels would also have to be small enough to fit Brayden’s young body, and neither of his parents qualified to donate.
James took to Facebook: This is the last post I wanted to make, but Brayden’s liver is failing. We need your prayers and miracle for healing and to find him a liver soon.
Fifteen friends and relatives stepped up to be tested, but sadly, none qualified, and time was growing short… and Brayden was moved to the very top of the waiting list.
An amazing gift
Cami was at a friend’s wedding when she got a call from the transplant coordinator at her hospital. “There’s a boy in acute liver failure next door. He’s got a couple of weeks at most. But it looks like you may be a match,” the woman told her.
Cami’s heart tugged. How frightened that family must be, she thought. “Let’s get my testing finished,” Cami said, determined.
Being petite, Cami had small blood vessels, making her a perfect candidate. And to her joy, she also turned out to be a perfect match for little Brayden!
“What?!” Ruth and James exclaimed in shock when they were told a stranger was willing to help their little boy. “Bless you,” they wept, saying a prayer for their unknown angel.
Cami’s own team of doctors and nurses handled her end of the transplant. “You did great!” they smiled when she awoke in recovery. And Brayden’s surgery went so smoothly, the very next day he was squirming to sit up in his bed.
Hearing how well he was doing, Cami decided to meet the family.
Ruth and James were too overcome with emotion to even speak. But their hugs and tears spoke for them. And while Brayden was shy and quiet at first, today, eight months later, he says, “Cami is like my new big sister.”
“She will always be part of our family,” Ruth says. For Cami, there is no greater thanks than seeing Brayden healthy and home with his family. “Seeing him being a normal little boy,” she beams, “that’s an incredible gift to me! ”
“Seeing Brayden with his family, being a normal little boy…it’s an incredible gift!”