When Cindy Zbin discovered she couldn’t donate a part of her liver to her ailing husband, Dave, she was heartbroken. Fortunately, he acquired a transplant from a deceased donor, saving his life. Simply weeks after that, she made a daring resolution — to donate 60% of her liver to a stranger.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” mentioned Zbin, a 62-year-old retired nonprofit supervisor from San Jose. “I couldn’t help my husband, but I could help someone else.”
Zbin’s expertise illustrates a rising pattern in organ transplantation — residing donation, the place individuals give kidneys or parts of their liver whereas they’re nonetheless alive. It’s a process that saves extra lives annually, however donations will not be preserving tempo with the necessity.
“There are always more people waiting than there are available organs,” mentioned Danielle John, director of organ operations for Donor Community West, which connects donors to sufferers in California. “Our job is to maximize every single opportunity to save a life.”
Since 2014, greater than 500,000 individuals within the U.S. have donated organs, 200,000 of them as residing donors, in response to a Bay Space Information Group evaluation of knowledge from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Community.
In 2024 alone, greater than 24,000 individuals within the U.S. grew to become donors. Residing donations elevated from about 5,800 in 2014 to greater than 7,000 in 2024.
Since 2014, greater than 120,000 Californians have turn out to be organ donors in California — 22,000 of them whereas residing, together with practically 8,000 within the Bay Space.
Dr. Mark Melcher, chief of stomach transplant surgical procedure at Stanford Well being Care, mentioned he’s seen the Bay Space evolve into one of many nation’s best and succesful transplant areas over practically twenty years, but in addition one the place the wait will be grueling.
“Traditionally, the waiting list in the Bay Area has been significantly longer than in much of the country,” he mentioned. “California has long wait times for both kidney and liver transplants.”
Zbin’s husband had liver illness and had been on the liver transplant waitlist for greater than three years. After a collection of surgical procedures, his liver started to fail. At one level, whereas crusing in Mexico in 2023, he collapsed from a critical an infection and needed to be airlifted to UC San Francisco Medical Middle.
“We thought he wouldn’t make it,” Zbin recalled. “They told us he had to be transplanted by December. December came and went, but still no liver.”
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Cindy Zbin and her husband, Dave Zbin, underwent liver donation and transplant surgical procedures at UC San Francisco. (Photograph courtesy: Cindy Zbin)
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Cindy Zbin and her husband, Dave Zbin, underwent liver donation and transplant surgical procedures at UC San Francisco. (Photograph courtesy: Cindy Zbin)
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Then, in February 2024, they bought the decision. A liver from a 27-year-old donor who had died had turn out to be out there.
“It saved his life,” she mentioned. “We’ve been married 42 years. We have three kids and seven grandkids. We got our life back.”
Three weeks later, Zbin made her personal resolution. She donated 60% of her liver to an nameless recipient.
“I had been through it,” Zbin mentioned. “I had sat in that hospital. I had watched other families. I just knew I had to do it. There was no pressure. It was personal. Physically, my liver has grown back. I feel great. But emotionally, I feel different, better. It changed me. It’s the greatest feeling to know I helped someone live.”
John, the organ donor facilitator, who spent years serving to construct the residing donor program at California Pacific Medical Middle, mentioned tales like Zbin’s have gotten extra widespread, however nonetheless not widespread sufficient.
“Living donors are some of the most selfless people I’ve ever met,” she mentioned. “Whether they know the recipient or not, they’re stepping forward to give life.”
Applications like paired exchanges and donation chains permit incompatible donors to assist one another throughout a community.
“Say you want to donate to me, but we’re not a match,” John mentioned. “We can still help each other through a swap. Or if you’re an altruistic donor, you can kick off a chain that saves multiple lives.”
Many individuals don’t know they are often residing donors. Others are swayed by myths or concern. John mentioned schooling and group engagement are vital, particularly in a various area just like the Bay Space.
“It’s important for people to see others who look like them receiving transplants,” John mentioned. “It makes it real. It gives them hope.”
Kristin Holtzman, who coordinates working room setup, affected person security and crew assist at Donor Community West in Oakdale, California, dedicated to turning into a residing donor herself.
“When I started at Donor Network West, I learned about the path of living organ donation,” she mentioned. “A few years later, my cousin donated a kidney to my uncle — that was my first personal connection to a living donor. Watching the change it made for my uncle planted the seed for me.”
She went via the Nationwide Kidney Registry and selected UCSF for her donation attributable to its massive residing donor program and waitlist. After six months of evaluations, she was permitted and scheduled for surgical procedure as a non-directed donor.
“I later found out my left kidney now lives in Hawaii,” Holtzman mentioned. “It lucked out.”
Holtzman might listing 5 individuals who might be prioritized for her kidney via the registry’s voucher program.
“It’s a way to help someone now while also protecting someone close to you in the future,” she mentioned.
Her restoration was easy. “I was in the hospital for two days,” she mentioned. “I was uncomfortable for about three days, but it was manageable with medication. I started running again three weeks after surgery.”
“I honestly feel like I was meant to have one kidney,” she mentioned. “Everything returned to normal so quickly. I’ve benefited as much as I hope my recipient has. It’s enriched my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined.”
The best numbers on the ready listing are for kidneys, principally attributable to injury from diabetes and hypertension, and livers, typically tied to fatty liver illness or alcohol use, Melcher mentioned. Liver sufferers face a extra pressing want.
“The difference with liver is that there’s no dialysis alternative,” he mentioned. “People can die waiting.”
Practically 20,000 Californians are ready for organ transplants, most of them, over 17,800, want a kidney, in response to the transplant community’s information. Others watch for livers, hearts, lungs or a number of organ transplants. Greater than 4,100 have been on the listing for 5 years or longer. Within the Bay Space, greater than 7,600 individuals are ready for organ transplants.
Zbin, now again to snowboarding, boating and touring along with her husband, hopes others will think about stay organ donation.
“If you’re thinking about it, at least get tested,” she mentioned. “You don’t have to be young or athletic. I’m a small older woman.”
She additionally urges individuals to register as deceased donors.
“That one conversation can save lives,” she mentioned. “It saved my husband’s.”
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