Midwest Transplant Network Spotlight: liver Recipient’s Two Transplants and Call for Donors
November 10, 2025 — by Transplant News
USA: Amanda Wright’s medical journey began in 2016 when two autoimmune diseases attacked her liver, and within six months she was placed on the transplant list after medications and other treatments failed to stop her decline. The case moved quickly from diagnosis to urgent need, setting the stage for repeated, high-stakes surgical intervention that would reshape her life over the next several years.
Wright received her first liver transplant in 2017, but the graft later failed as rejection and complications emerged, forcing a second transplant in 2020. That year brought additional personal loss with the death of her father and a cascade of medical challenges. She credits the combined efforts of family, community supporters, and her medical team with helping her through recovery and the difficult intervals between surgeries.
After surviving two operations, Wright joined the Midwest Transplant Network to share her experience and to pursue nursing studies aimed at helping others navigating transplantation. The network emphasizes that donation remains the critical bottleneck for many patients: waiting times can stretch into years, and demand grows steadily, with a new person added to the transplant list roughly every eight minutes.
Nez Savala of the Midwest Transplant Network stresses that deciding to register as an organ donor is a deliberate choice with potentially vast impact. A single donor can enable up to eight lifesaving grafts, including liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, intestines, and pancreas. The network’s message is clear and persistent: increasing donor registration is central to saving the lives of people like Amanda Wright and reducing the long waits that define so many transplant stories.
