A 3-year-old West Texas girl and a 53-year-old Garland woman are celebrating the holidays with new livers after surgeons split a single donated organ to save both their lives.
The complex November transplant gave Luna Sifuentes her first healthy Christmas at home.
The rare procedure highlights how innovative surgical techniques can maximize organ donations when more than 100,000 Americans await transplants. Luna’s case illustrates the particular challenge of finding organs small enough for infant recipients.
Luna Sifuentes was diagnosed with biliary atresia at two months old after her parents noticed jaundice and gray stool. Biliary atresia is a rare congenital condition in infants where the bile ducts are blocked or absent, which can lead to bile accumulation in the liver and potential liver damage.
Despite treatment to correct the condition, doctors discovered her liver had already sustained irreversible damage.
By six months, she faced end-stage liver failure and joined the transplant waiting list. Finding a liver small enough for an infant proved nearly impossible until last November’s breakthrough call.
Surgeons at Children’s Health successfully divided one adult liver between Luna and Rachel, the Garland recipient.
Both patients survived the highly complex procedure.
“We are just grateful that they made that sacrifice to not only save my baby but another person,” said Luna’s mother, Ashtin Sifuentes, Fox 4 KDFW reported. “We never thought Luna would make it that far.”
Sifuentes expressed profound gratitude to the donor family for their decision.
“I just want them to know that she gets to hit these milestones that we never thought would be possible and that we’re grateful. She gets to be a big sister and gets to live her life just like other 3-year-olds.”
Rachel, who received the other portion of the liver, awaits the chance to thank the donor’s family personally.
“I don’t think it will truly hit me until I get to thank the family of the person who donated it,” she said, per Fox 4. “It’s pretty great. Two lives were saved because one was kind enough to donate their liver.”
Dr. Yong Kwon, the pediatric surgeon who performed Luna’s transplant, expects the liver to last her lifetime. The liver’s unique regenerative properties make it viable for adult patients.
Unlike other organs, livers don’t age and can regrow tissue. This characteristic allows surgeons to split donations between multiple recipients when conditions align.
Both families have contacted the donor’s relatives, hoping to express their gratitude. Organ donation networks typically facilitate such meetings when all parties consent.
The successful transplants underscore the urgent need for donations nationwide. Thousands die annually while awaiting life-saving organs despite medical advances in transplant techniques.
Luna’s family hopes their story inspires more people to register as organ donors. A single donor can potentially save multiple lives through procedures like the one that rescued their daughter.
