A former Long Island news anchor has made a heartbreaking plea for a liver donor.
As reported by the New York Post, she continued to report for News 12 and TV55 whilst battling two very rare diseases. These are autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cholangitis. These two serious diseases wreak havoc on the liver, and have left her in dire need for a donor.
But the chances of her finding one aren't the best. The donor would need to have O-positive blood, according to doctors. And she's tragically running out of time. "I just feel sucker-punched and stunned", McGorry said in an interview.
She found out the true severity of her diseases when she collapsed and was rushed to hospital. There, doctors told her that her hemogobin count was half of what it should be. Hemoglobin is very important for the body- it carries oxygen around the body. With less hemoglobin, you become fatigued more easily, and risk feeling weak, and collapsing.
Unfortunately, because of her specific disease, the chances of her getting a liver from a deceased donor are near-zero. Patients with primary biliary cholangitis are ranked as less severe than patients with other diseases. So, she's hoping that a living donor might be able to help her.
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She Has Set Up a GoFundMe In Hopes of Finding a Liver Donor
McGorry has set up a GoFundMe to help find her a liver journey - it's titled "Support Amy's Liver Transplant Journey". She's so far raised almost $8,000 for her medical bills. 52 people have donated to her cause.
She has talked about the difficulties of finding a donor in an interview. "You have to find a living donor who's willing to do it - and that's a big ask - to go 'Can I have a piece of their liver?'"
While the person would only need to donate part of their liver in a minimally invasive procedure, she says there's issues some people have had. "Some people may want to donate, and their jobs won't let them," she explained.
We hope that she gets a suitable donor, and has the life-saving surgery she needs. Godspeed, Amy!
