A Brighton woman’s wait for a liver transplant has a lot of people talking about living organ donations.
Mary Hammerton, a wife and mother of two, couldn’t survive many more months with the liver she has.
As it turns out, she’s found a donor and didn’t have to go far to find it. Mary’s husband of 24 years, Darcy, just happens to be a match.
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Now, more than 13 years after getting first diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis, she will get the help she needs. Mary says Darcy’s gift is priceless.
“He’ll be giving me 70 per cent of his liver. His liver will regenerate to almost full size to within six to eight weeks. Many people are unaware that there is such a thing as living organ donation.”
Donor Darcy Hammerton who works construction and is a singer-songwriter had an accident in May of this year when he cut off a couple of fingers.
He happened to be at the Kingston Hospital with his wife for one of her liver appointments. That’s when Darcy thought about getting himself tested and it turned out, he was a match.
“I think it’s fantastic, it’s a miracle. Twenty-eight years we’ve been together, 24 married, and that whole time, I’ve been standing right beside her being the one, neither one of us had a clue.”
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The operation is scheduled for Monday, at a hospital in Toronto. Recovery time for Mary as well as Darcy is around three months.
The two are high-school sweethearts, and they attended Quinte Secondary School in Belleville.