Pastor Racing For Liver Transplant Needs O Positive Living Donor Under 60; Listed At Three Major Transplant Centers

Greenwood Pastor Needs Living liver Donor Within Two Years As Cirrhosis Advances

USA: Reverend John Mark Walker, a pastor from Greenwood, New York, faces a narrowing window for a lifesaving liver transplant after a six-year battle with nonalcoholic cirrhosis caused by a congenital liver condition. Physicians say transplantation is the only viable treatment as the disease continues to progress.

Walker now contends with severe complications: recurrent ascites requiring weekly drainage of six to nine liters from his abdomen and ongoing gastrointestinal bleeding that has left him chronically anemic and exhausted. Those symptoms have made daily ministry and family life increasingly difficult as medical teams manage symptoms while awaiting a suitable donor.

His daughter Kaitlin attempted to serve as a living donor but was incompatible due to blood type. Walker is listed for transplant at Thomas Jefferson University Medical Center in Philadelphia, the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic, and the family is actively seeking an eligible living donor. He needs a donor with O positive blood who is under 60 years old.

Medical teams note that a living donor transplant involves donating approximately one-third of a healthy liver; donors’ livers typically regenerate within four to six weeks. For Walker, a successful transplantation would restore his ability to preach, care for grandchildren and continue his community work, underscoring the ripple effect a living donor can have beyond a single recipient.

Video originally published on 2026-03-09 18:19:35