Longmont Bartender Donates Liver To Save Child's Life

LONGMONT, CO -- Local bartender Aaron Whalen, 33, called the staff at the UCHealth Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora two years ago to find out what he needed to do to donate part of his liver, according to a story in the Times-Call. In December of 2017, then 7-year-old Manny Estrada was told that he needed a new liver, and thanks to Whalen's donation, the Times-Call reports, he was able to get one just two weeks later.

"It's something I've always wanted to do," Whalen told the Times-Call. "My mom donated her kidney a few years back and I saw the reaction of the family, so I know what it's like to wait for something like that. ... It turned out my blood type was O positive, which means I could donate to anybody, so at that point I was just like let's find somebody who's ready for one right now. My only prerequisite was that it went to a kid."

It was several months after the surgery before Manny Estrada could meet Whalen for the first time.

"Right off the bat I knew it was going to be someone with a big heart, big enough to put themselves through that," Manny's mother, Karina Estrada, told the Times-Call. "Usually you'd do it for your mom or your sibling, but doing it for a complete stranger is crazy to think about."

Manny is now a year out from his surgery, considered a medical benchmark, and doing well.

Read the rest of the story from the Times-Call here.

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