Recipient of Liver Donation Carries On Donor’s Dream

In the spring of 2011, Nefeterius McPherson was diagnosed with a rare liver disease called Secondary Sclerosing Cholangitis and doctors told her that she was in desperate need of a liver transplant.  The waiting list for organ donations is long, but McPherson got lucky and received a liver transplant only 172 days after she received her bad news.  Her liver ended up coming from a 12-year-old cheerleader, Taitlyn Hughes, who died of a sudden brain hemorrhage in November 2011.  

Shortly after receiving her transplant, McPherson connected with Hughes’ mother and went to visit her in West Virginia.  Before McPherson left at the conclusion of her visit, Hughes’ mother presented her with Hughes’ West Virginia University t-shirt. Hughes was a West Virginia University fan and McPherson was a huge Texas football fan.  Despite her loyalty to Texas football, McPherson proudly wore her donor’s West Virginia University shirt for the West Virginia University versus University of Texas football game.  

McPherson uploaded photos of herself wearing the WVU shirt to Facebook and Twitter, which made her story about the benefits of organ donation go viral.  Hughes’ mother commented that it is a bittersweet experience “‘to know that a part of her daughter lives on in someone doing wonderful things with her life.'”

See Charlie Wells, Texas Organ Recipient Keeps Dead 12-year-old Donor’s Dream Alive With Unexpected Gift, NY Daily News, Oct. 10, 2012. 

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.