Loss of son inspires Bridgeport woman to be an activist for organ donation
Connecticut Post | Amanda Cuda
Dara Brooks, a volunteer with Donate Life, trains for the 5K portion of the ING Hartford marathon, which she will be running in alongside her daughter to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation. In 1992, Dara gave birth to a son born with Biliary Atresia, a disease of the liver that requires a transplant. Brooks donated a part of her liver to her son. Both surgeries were a success, but DaraâÄôs son passed away at 19-months-old due to additional complications and Brooks asked that her son be a donor to help save the lives of other children. Photo: Autumn Driscoll / Connecticut Post |
Dara Brooks thought she was doing what any mother would do.
In 1992, her infant son, Tyler, was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare disease in which the tubes that carry bile from the liver to the gall blader are blocked. The illness can lead to liver damage and cirrhosis, which is deadly if not treated.
Tyler needed a transplant and was put on a waiting list. However, since he was at home and not in an intensive care unit, Tyler was far down on the transplant list. That made his family anxious that his health would decline before a suitable donor could be found.
So the Bridgeport resident decided to donate part of her own liver to her son. Because the liver can partially regenerate, it's one of the organs that can be taken from a living donor. To Brooks and her family, this seemed like the obvious decision, but others were incredulous. "There were people who came up to me and said `How could you do this?'" Brooks said.
Read more
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
Dara Brooks, a volunteer with Donate Life, trains for the 5K portion of the ING Hartford marathon, which she will be running in alongside her daughter to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation. In 1992, Dara gave birth to a son born with Biliary Atresia, a disease of the liver that requires a transplant. Brooks donated a part of her liver to her son. Both surgeries were a success, but DaraâÄôs son passed away at 19-months-old due to additional complications and Brooks asked that her son be a donor to help save the lives of other children. Photo: Autumn Driscoll / Connecticut Post |
Dara Brooks thought she was doing what any mother would do.
In 1992, her infant son, Tyler, was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare disease in which the tubes that carry bile from the liver to the gall blader are blocked. The illness can lead to liver damage and cirrhosis, which is deadly if not treated.
Tyler needed a transplant and was put on a waiting list. However, since he was at home and not in an intensive care unit, Tyler was far down on the transplant list. That made his family anxious that his health would decline before a suitable donor could be found.
So the Bridgeport resident decided to donate part of her own liver to her son. Because the liver can partially regenerate, it's one of the organs that can be taken from a living donor. To Brooks and her family, this seemed like the obvious decision, but others were incredulous. "There were people who came up to me and said `How could you do this?'" Brooks said.
Read more
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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