A Lindsay, Ont., man in desperate need of a liver transplant is now receiving support from a transplant recipient he helped six years ago.
Adam Sweeney, a 44-year-old musician and father of two, has Primary Schlerosing Cholangitis, an autoimmune disease which attacks the liver. His health is deteriorating and he is in dire need of a donated liver.
“I got diagnosed 10 years ago and it keeps getting worse and worse,” said Sweeney. “I’ve been on the list for two years. A quarter of the people on the list will die waiting.”
His friend, Tim Dalliday, was on that waiting list and finally received a new liver in late 2011. Ironically, Sweeney met Dalliday at a benefit concert to help the Peterborough man after his surgery six years ago. They kept in touch ever since.
The tables have now turned with Dalliday now helping Sweeney’s search for a donor.
“Adam’s situation is getting pretty precarious so I’d like to do my part to spread the word out in Peterborough and the Kawarthas to find someone out there,” said Dalliday.
A living donor needs to be between the ages of 18 to 60 with Type A or Type O blood. The liver is the only organ which can regenerate.
“It’s definitely a journey, one we hopefully can get Adam on the other side now and let his journey and opportunity in life continue,” said Dalliday.
Sweeney says there are nearly 230 people currently on the waiting list for a liver. As for finding a donor, he remains hopeful.
“It’s a lot to ask for someone to do and it’s the only way I’ll get over what I have and it is difficult to ask for,” he said.
A social media campaign to help Sweeney includes the #MakeAdamGreatAgain and a Facebook page