Weymouth Family Advocates for Organ Donation After Transplant Saves Infant Daughter

A New England Organ Bank video that is being shown at select RMV offices in Massachusetts sends a clear message that becoming an organ donor can save lives. On that video is a five-year-old Weymouth girl that is literally living proof of the message.

On May 6, 2008 a nearly five-month-old Caitlin Downey received a split liver transplant at Boston Children's Hospital. 

Caitlin, Shawnna Downey's third child, was born with a hepatic hemangioma, or a benign tumor on her liver, that caused hypertension and breathing difficulties and left her with a barely functioning liver. 

Because Caitlin was just an infant, she received a split liver transplant, which takes 25 percent of a donor's liver for a small child and gives the remaining portion of the organ to another recipient. 

Caitlin received her life-saving transplant after a fall took the life of 22-year-old New York native Jeff Powers. 

Downey said her family is very close with the Powers; they even spent Caitlin's most recent birthday together.

Downey explained that while Jeff's organs, including the other 75 percent of his liver, were donated to several other people, Caitlin is the only recipient that the Powers family created a relationship with.

"They've been able to see her grow and thrive," Downey said.

While Caitlin is still catching up on some fine motor skills and speech skills that she fell behind on during her time in the hospital, she is an independent and normal five year old. Downey said Caitlin recently completed her physical therapy needs.

She is now attending Johnson Early Childhood Center for preschool and is expected to start kindergarten in the fall.

Caitlin's future appears bright, especially considering her condition before the transplant.

"She was very sick beforehand so it's pretty remarkable how good she looks now," saidCaitlin's transplant surgeon Dr. Heung Bae Kim, the director of the Pediatric Transplant Center at Boston Children’s Hospital and the surgical director of the Liver Transplant Program.

Since Caitlin's transplant nearly five years ago, Downey has volunteered for the New England Organ Bank, making speeches, raising funds and now appearing in the RMV ad.

"Part of volunteering is spreading the word," Downey said, adding she often discusses organ donation when talking about her daughter and posts information on her Facebook page.

"The family has done a great job advocating for organ donation," said Dr. Kim, who now sees Caitlin more at Boston Children's Hospital social events than in the clinic.

Learn more about the New England Organ Bank at www.neob.org or learn more about organ donation at the RMV Organ Donor FAQ page.