When Ed Henry, chief national correspondent at Fox News Channel, decided to donate part of his liver to his sister, Colleen, he never intended it to become something that would spread broader awareness about the need for organ donations.
But three weeks after surgeons removed 30% of his liver and placed it in his sister, he’s exploring ways to get the message out. He’s considering writing a book about the experience and is working with the Living Bank, a Houston-based nonprofit organization that focuses on living organ donations, to see about creating a public service announcement.
“A lot of people simply don’t know about the ability to be a living donor,” Henry told the Washington Examiner in an interview.
“All of us grew up on the idea that you only got organ donations from a dead person that had checked a box on a driver’s license,” he added. “Living donations could be the whole next frontier here.”
Henry decided to donate his liver because he wanted to save his sister’s life and started the process about a year ago. It took time for him to undergo the physical and mental testing required and to lose the weight needed to become a healthy donor. He worked with a separate medical team from his sister’s and didn’t tell her he was considering the donation until it was clear he would be able to follow through.
Henry said he ultimately decided to make his surgery public because wanted to explain to Fox News’ audience why he wouldn’t be on camera for a while. He wrote a piece about his intentions on FoxNews.com and tearfully spoke about it on the air.
“I felt there was some obligation to explain, and it has been good to have public support,” Henry said.
Though more than 13,000 people in the U.S. are on a waiting list to receive a liver transplant, it’s rare for a patient to get one from a living donor. Last year, only 401 people donated a part of their liver. The other 7,849 transplants came from deceased donors.
Kidneys are the most common type of living organ donations, as people only need one to survive, but the liver has a quality other organs don’t: It can regenerate to its full size. People need a new liver when they have cirrhosis, Hepatitis B and C, or alcoholic liver disease, among other conditions. For Colleen Henry, the condition necessitating the transplant was hereditary.
The Living Bank said the organization was in the planning stages of its public service announcement and would be working with Henry and Fox to review and approve the content.
“This will be a huge turning point in public awareness,” Kelly Perdue, president and CEO of the Living Bank, said in an email. “Ed’s recognition along with Fox’s support is a game changer.”
The overall number of living organ donations has been flat for almost a decade, with 6,849 such transplants performed in 2018, at a time when the waiting list surpasses 114,000 people.
“The problem is most Americans don’t have a clue about what living organ donation is or that it’s a lifesaving alternative to waiting years for a deceased donor, years a patient may not have,” Perdue said.
During his interview with the Washington Examiner, Henry was driving in North Carolina, where he was spending a few days with friends as he was recuperating from the surgery. He was only allowed to eat liquids soon after the surgery and won’t be allowed to drink alcohol for six months. Every day, he has been on the elliptical and has lost 20 pounds since he started the process a year ago.
When asked how he was feeling, he replied: “Fantastic! I feel great!”
He had mostly been relaxing but had also been able to golf that week. Later in the summer, his family will be dropping off his son for college in Florida. Henry has been able to mostly unplug from the news, though he admitted he watched a little of Fox News’ recap of the Democratic debates.
Henry anticipates returning to work in the fall. Throughout the interview, he stressed how difficult or impossible it might be for someone to become a donor knowing how much time they would need to take off work. He realized that not every employer would be as supportive.
Colleen Henry was discharged from the hospital this week, but her recovery will be longer. A GoFundMe was set up for her as she’ll be unable to work during her recovery and is a single mother of two. She will be taking more than 20 pills a day to make sure her body doesn’t reject the new liver.
The Henrys’ experience came as boosting organ donations has become a priority for the Trump administration. On July 10, President Trump signed an executive order that, among other measures, would help living donors pay for childcare and receive compensation to make up lost wages.
Henry has provided occasional updates on social media but said he is also trying not divulge too much order to respect his sister’s privacy as she focuses on her recovery. Colleen gave Ed her blessing to go public, telling him, “It’s a story of love between a brother and sister,” but she won’t be doing interviews about her surgery.
“I think my sister may end up having a really wonderful legacy beyond the surgery,” Henry said.
