A selfless daughter donated her liver and kidneys to her ailing mother in two separate operations and said she knew her mother would have done the same for her.
Eileen Harlin, 39, decided to donate part of her liver to her mother Julia Harlin, 71, in August 2022 after she was diagnosed with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhosis.
In December, Eileen took action again and gave her mother one of her kidneys after her mother suffered kidney failure.
Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhosis is a serious form of liver disease in which the liver swells due to fatty deposits. Kidney failure occurs when one or both kidneys can no longer function independently.
‘And then suddenly my body attacked my kidney and Eileen stepped up and gave me her kidney too. She’s a good girl,’ Julia said WBATV.
Eileen Harlin, 39, decided to donate part of her liver and one of her kidneys to her mother Julia Harlin, 71. Both mother and daughter have recovered well and are healthy
Julia and Eileen are seen at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore sitting in their hospital gowns and marveling at their ‘incredibly rare’ outcome
When Julia was first diagnosed with her liver disease, her only chance of survival was to undergo a liver transplant, something she had waited months or years for.
“They actually told me it would probably be at least five years, if not longer, before I got the transplant,” the mother said in an interview on Good morning America.
Having five children of her own, Julia insisted she didn’t want any of them to be her donor “because I would be worried about them on top of worrying about myself.”
Eileen researched the organ donor process without her mother’s knowledge, along with two of her siblings.
After running tests, Eileen was told that she was indeed a match for Julia, and she gave her the wonderful news on Mother’s Day.
“I said, ‘Hey, don’t get mad.’ Over the past few months I have been tested to see if I am a match. And I am, and I want to do it,” Eileen told her mother. who immediately became emotional.
The liver transfer took place at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, but Julia was only out for a while before she became ill again.
In August 2022, Julia was diagnosed with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhosis, and in December she faced kidney failure
Julia is seen with her grandchildren
According to the National Institutes of Health, the mother’s kidneys began to fail due to hepatorenal syndrome, a condition usually found in patients with acute or chronic liver disease.
Eileen said: ‘I think we were all in shock’ as her mother now had to undergo a kidney transplant to survive.
“I think I started crying again, I couldn’t believe I had to go through that again,” Julia said.
Her daughter then went through the same process as before, and to the surprise of the family and the doctor, she was once again a perfect match for her mother.
Medical experts call the mother and daughter’s medical journey “incredibly rare,” as Dr. Daniel Maluf, a transplant surgeon at the hospital, told WBALTV that there have been only 10 to 12 double-life donor transplants “since transplantation started.”
“Liver transplantation has become much better and the patient also feels comfortable donating the kidney,” Maluf added.
The surgeon recognized Eileen for being “completely selfless” and called her “the real hero of this story.”
Eileen is seen in a hospital bed as she recovered from her second transplant surgery that she did for her mother
“I know my mother and how much she wants to live another 20 years to see all her grandchildren get married, graduate from college and the like,” Eileen said.
After the second surgery, Julia experienced normal kidney function and both recovered quickly and were able to return home two to three days after the procedure.
“She would basically do anything for anyone…when I call Eileen, it doesn’t matter what time it is, she’s in the car from Pennsylvania and she’s coming,” Julia said.
Eileen went on to praise the doctors and medical staff at the University of Maryland Medical Center, saying that “they were there every step of the way.”
‘I know my mother and how much she wants to live another twenty years to see all her grandchildren get married, graduate and the like. And I know she would do it for me.” Eileen said.