Two-time liver transplant recipient celebrates Donate Life Month

"I got a second chance at life and I think it's really, really awesome." 

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — April is “Donate Life Month.”

It encourages people to register as an organ donor.

A New Hanover County girl is living proof it can save someone’s life.

The mother of a two-time liver transplant recipient, said, “I would love to be able to tell that family thank you for choosing organ donation because Sofie wouldn’t have been there without it.” 

11-year-old, Sofie Blackmon is a two-time liver transplant recipient. She was born with a rare condition that caused her liver to fail at just four-months-old. 

Sofie’s mother, Melissa Blackmon, said thanks to organ donations, Sofie is a happy, healthy fifth grader, who enjoys girl scouts, and playing with her friends. 

Blackmon said, “She leads a relatively normal life, we have very little things that we can’t do because of organ donation. She’s a very normal child and we’re just so grateful every day and we think about our donors every day. We celebrate them, we celebrate every year. They call it a “transplant-iversary.” 

Sofie’s first liver transplant failed due to a blood-clot but she received another one that same week. 

When asked what Sofie would say to her donor, she said, “I would thank them very much and I would say that I’m very, very grateful because I got a second chance at life and I think it’s really, really awesome.” 

When Sofie was five, her family decided to pay it forward by creating the “Donate Life Hero Run.” 

 Blackmon said, “For many years, people called Sofie “Super Sofie.” 

The annual event raises money for Donate Life North Carolina. 

Blackmon said, “We think that recipients are heroes, we think that organ donors are heroes, living donors are heroes and if you’ve lost a loved one and they became an organ donor — those families are heroes because they made the decision. So, we always incorporate the superhero theme into that.” 

Nearly five-million North Carolinians are registered “super heroes” or organ donors — with nearly three-thousand in the state still waiting for their life saving organ transplant. 

Sofie’s brother, Max, has organized a fundraiser that will be held on Monday, April 10th, as part of “Donate life Month.” It will be from five-to-nine p.m., at Five Guys in Mayfaire Town Center.

You can help save a life like Sofie’s by registering to become an organ donor, in person, at your local DMV. You can also change your donor status virtually by visiting this website.