April 17, 2020 / By mobanmarket
WAUKESHA, WI — Five-month-old Marcus Albers will die within weeks if he doesn’t get a new liver. The Waukesha boy was born last October with a rare disorder that attacked his liver, and his distraught parents, Whitney McLean and Tony Albers, are sending out a desperate plea to anyone who might be able to save their son’s life.
Immunodeficiency 47, or IMD47, attacked Marcus’ liver and it began to fail three weeks ago, according to media reports. A partial liver transplant is his only hope. The distress this married couple is facing is compounded by the fact that their other son, Dominic, 2, also has the rare disorder and is on a liver transplant waiting list. His situation isn’t as dire, though, as his liver is still functioning.
The couple found out McLean was a carrier of IMD47 when she was pregnant. The disorder affects only boys, so McLean didn’t know she was a carrier, nor did her grandmother, mother and sister, whose children have all been girls.
“It’s extremely rare,” McLean told news station WTMJ. “From what we’ve been told, there are 12 cases in the world.”
Tests three weeks ago showed that Marcus’ liver was failing. He has since been hospitalized at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
“We were told that Marcus has weeks to live, and that was a week and a half ago,” McLean told news station WISN. “So it’s pretty dire.”
Marcus was supposed to have undergone liver transplant surgery on April 2, but the living donor’s liver wasn’t a match, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“That fell through, so we are still looking for someone who is qualified,” McLean told the newspaper.
How You Can Help
McLean, a registered nurse at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, said the ideal donor will be under 40 years old and 150 pounds and have 0-positive or 0-negative blood. The donor should also be in good health, be a non-smoker and non-drinker, and should not have recently been pregnant.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” McLean told WTMJ. “We need people who are serious and strict to the criteria. If you are serious and want to help us, we will take the help.”
Anyone who matches the donor criteria and is interested in helping should contact a Froedtert Hospital living donor coordinator at (414) 805-1437 or (414) 805-1438. Multiple calls are coming into those lines, so it’s recommended that people who want to help send an email to [email protected].
Marcus has had other health challenges during his short life. Albers calls him their “miracle child the whole way through.”
“He’s fighting, so we have to fight,” McLean told WISN.
“There have been a lot of labs and what he’s gone through, I don’t think a lot of adults could handle,” she told WTMJ. “He’s very resilient.”
There are 291 people on the liver transplant waiting list in Wisconsin, the Journal Sentinel reported. Even if people who want to donate aren’t a match for Marcus, other children desperately need transplants, the couple told the newspaper. Nationally, more than 400 children are waiting for new livers, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing website.
A GoFundMe page has been established to help the family with medical expenses. If the amount raised exceeds medical costs, the remainder will be donated to an organ donation charity, the family said.
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Categories: News