University Health San Antonio Orchestrates Nation’s Largest Living Liver-Donor Chain, Enabling Seven Transplants

University Health Coordinates Largest Living-Donor liver Chain, Seven Recipients Meet Donors

USA: University Health in San Antonio coordinated what it described as the largest living-donor liver transplant chain in the country, bringing together donors and recipients in a multi-hospital effort that culminated in a series of life-saving operations. The program paired people who wanted to help loved ones but were not compatible with those in need, creating an exchange that enabled matches across multiple families.

Fourteen surgeries were performed as part of the chain, resulting in seven liver transplantations that reconnected recipients with the living donors whose partial grafts now sustain them. The coordinated swaps required tightly synchronized surgical teams, donor screening and post-operative care to ensure safety for both donors and recipients and to streamline living-donor liver transplantation logistics.

Among the pairs was donor Robert McDonald, who enrolled after a friend’s need inspired him to join the program. Months later he was identified as a compatible living donor and gave a portion of his liver to 50-year-old recipient Jody Dietert. Both met for the first time after recovery, part of a broader series of reunions that underscored the human stakes behind the clinical choreography.

Medical teams said the chain expanded access to transplantation for people who otherwise faced long waits for deceased-donor organs, while also highlighting the potential of paired exchanges to create multiple second chances from willing donors. Hospital officials framed the effort as a milestone in living-donor liver transplantation, with donors reporting pride in helping strangers gain new life.

Video originally published on 2026-04-10 19:59:52