Donated liver.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Maggie Catherwood shared her transplanted liver with an infant)

Maggie Catherwood, a college student from Sterling, Virginia, started experiencing disturbing symptoms last fall, including not being able to keep food down. A diagnosis was made the day after her 21st birthday, when she learned that she had Wilson's disease--a failure of the liver to eliminate copper flora food, which accumulates in the organ until it is destroyed. Maggie was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

Not long afterwards, three-month-old Allison Brown, daughter of Brian and Terri Brown of Waldorf, Maryland, was diagnosed with biliary atresia, the absence of all major bile ducts. The resultant jaundice had caused the whites of the infant's eyes to turn yellow. And so, Allison was put on the liver-transplant list in early December.

On February 27, Dr. Cal Matsumoto of Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., received word from the transplant network that a liver that was a suitable match for Maggie had been found, following the death of a teenager. Furthermore, records indicated that the liver was also a tissue match for baby Allison. Dr. Matsumoto knew that, unlike other organs, livers can be divided and each portion grows to accommodate the needs of the patient receiving ...