Life-saving Donations

Skylar's life has been shaped by transplantation—from witnessing her father receive a bone marrow transplant and double lung transplant to undergoing a life-saving bone marrow transplant herself after being diagnosed with the same rare genetic condition, dyskeratosis congenita. Today, she honors those gifts by leading efforts to inspire others to register as donors through her work with Wolverines for Life.

Harley is a 13-year-old with a rare genetic heart condition that has led to heart failure, cardiac arrest, and a stroke, and she is now awaiting a life-saving heart transplant at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Despite the extraordinary challenges she has faced, Harley's resilience and spirit inspire those around her, and her family's story raises awareness of pediatric heart disease, organ donation, and the hope that transplantation can provide.

The record setting year comes along with the opening of a new U-M Health liver transplant evaluation clinic on the west side of the state.

If my Michigan journey didn't start immediately at birth in 1993, then it started at 6 months old when I was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma and was starting chemotherapy treatment at Mott Children's Hospital. Eight months later, I received the gift of life in the form of a new liver.

In many ways, the courses of our lives are determined by strangers: people on admissions committees, policymakers, public figures, and, more recently, influencers. Yet, at the same time, the world is quite small.

In 1984, at the age of 3 1/2, Danny was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, was treated with chemotherapy and went into remission. The chemo caused a cardiomyopathy which was discovered at age 14. At that point, Danny was put on medications and his heart was stable until major back surgery.

With very little warning, Rachel went from being a healthy and active woman to needing a heart transplant. Michigan Medicine helped Rachel through her transplant and regaining her strength.

When Connor Burke was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, his treatment caused his red blood cell count to go down and he needed blood transfusions. Blood donations saved his life.

Travis passed away on April 2, 2016 due to a car accident during a storm. During his life, he saved lives through countless blood donations. After his death, he saved dozens of lives through tissue and organ donations.