Ajax firefighter gives gift of life for Mother’s Day

An Ajax firefighter and mother has volunteered to be a living liver donor for her colleague’s son.

Nadine Young will be donating her liver to Jarrett Singer, 19, on Mother’s Day.

Singer has a rare form of cancer called fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, which is attacking his liver. After going through rounds of chemotherapy and a surgery that proved to be unsuccessful, his family sent out a plea for help, searching for a donor to save their son.

That’s when Young, who works with Singer’s father as a firefighter, stepped up.

“In my world, I try to help as many people as I can, and as a ‘fire family,’ it’s what we do,” she said.

After several tests at Toronto General Hospital, Young proved to be a match.

It’s the best Mother’s Day gift Singer’s mother could have asked for.

“For me to be able to have many more Mother’s Days with my son … I’m just in disbelief that someone was willing to do that,” Christine Singer said.

“It shows the size of her heart, her concern and care for other people,” said Mark Singer, the young man’s father.

For 19-year-old Singer, a new liver means the chance to finish what he started.

“I’m looking forward just to be happy, to be healthy, to be able to go back to school, doing what I love and just being able to live my life again,” he said.

While he is nervous for the surgery, Singer says he is looking forward to playing competitive hockey and finishing his degree in applied human nutrition at the University of Guelph.

For Young, she said the liver donation is “the best gift I can give to another mother … to give her the chance to keep her son happy and healthy and thriving like he should.”