Infant Receives Liver from His Godmother, a 'Perfect' Match

At only 8 months old, Finn O'Sullivan desperately needed a liver transplant.

Finn was diagnosed with two conditions: biliary atresia, a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants, and Alpha-1, a genetic disorder that can cause liver disease. Without a new liver, doctors said, he would not have lived long.

Fortunately, Finn's family didn't have to look too far for a donor — Finn's godmother, Sarah McKitterick was a "perfect" match, according to an article by ABC News, which shared their story.

"Liver transplant is a modern miracle," said Dr. Benjamin Samstein, Sarah's surgeon and the chief of liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and surgical director of the Living Donor Transplant Program at NewYork-Presbyterian.

"To see a child that faced near-certain death grow and then see their parents now worry about regular things, like whether they are spending too much time on the iPad, is enormously satisfying," Dr. Samstein told ABC News.

Watch Sarah meet Finn after surgery over at ABC News and learn more about living donor liver transplantations at Weill Cornell Medicine.