Teen’s transplant journey, local man’s search highlights National Donate Life Month

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — April is National Donate Life Month. During this time, Donate Life America and other nonprofits work to spread awareness about organ donation and the difference it can make in the lives of people still waiting for a transplant. 

According to the American Transplant Foundation, more than 850,000 organ transplants have happened since 1988. One of those recipients is 13-year-old Sofie Bowman. 

Sofie’s mother Melissa Bowman said she found out Sofie needed a liver transplant not long after she was born  

“At three days old, we learned that something was wrong, and she went through a series of tests and we found out that she had a condition called Biliary atresia,” she said. 

At the time, Bowman noted, there were still a lot of unknowns. 

“Problem was that she was so tiny. She was only ten pounds, four months old. So it’s very hard to transplant infants because of that. It’s hard to find a donor,” she recalled. 

After weeks of waiting, Sofie received her first transplant, likely from an infant donor. 

Unfortunately, the first transplant failed. Sofie received another transplant a week later, and now 13 years on, Sofie’s donated liver is functioning normally. 

“I tell my most closest friends and they’re pretty shocked,” Sofie said. “They’re like, ‘wow!’” 

Sofie said many of the kids her age have never even heard of organ transplants. 

“They had no idea that many people every day need organs,” she said. 

People like Elliott Roberts of Hampstead. Roberts is one of about 100,000 Americans waiting for an organ transplant. 

Roberts suffers from Polycystic Kidney Disease, a genetic disorder that causes cysts to form on the kidneys. 

While healthy kidneys function between 90% to 100%, Roberts’ kidneys function at about 19%. 15% is considered renal failure. 

While many recipients can wait years, Roberts took it upon himself to find a donor. 

A part-time Uber driver, Roberts plastered “NEED KIDNEY, B+ BLOOD” along with his phone number on his back windshield.  

Within days, his windshield had reached thousands of people through social media. Roberts said the outpouring of support has been overwhelming. 

“You know, you tend to think if you put something out there, people are just going to ignore it and don’t really care,” Roberts said. “But you really start to see that, you know, there’s a lot of people that you have no idea who they are, they have no idea who you are, and yet they still care about the people around them.” 

Roberts added for those still waiting on a transplant, don’t be scared to fight for yourself. 

“Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. You know, worst case scenario is nobody responds,” he said. 

For the rest of us, Sofie noted your donation could save a life. 

“If I hadn’t gotten that liver, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” she said. 

Roberts said his own mom is testing to see if she can donate her kidney. If she isn’t a match, he said, other people have already expressed they would be interested in donating theirs instead. 

You can learn more about becoming an organ donor here.