Meet Michelle Mattingly

Age: 31 Transplanted Organ: Liver Date of Transplant: 2008

“It was like listening to someone talk about a movie they just saw. It sounded too unreal to be true.” That’s how Michelle Mattingly felt when she awoke from a coma last August.

It all started when Michelle went to the hospital, six months pregnant with her son John and suffering from flu symptoms. She and her husband, Leonard, both figured it had something to do with her sickle cell disease (a hereditary blood disorder that affects red blood cells), and that after she received some fluids intravenously, she’d be discharged.

Unfortunately, Michelle’s liver function test results started rising to dangerously high levels, and they were not coming down. As her liver started failing, the toxin level in her body increased, causing her to slip into a coma. Her doctors tried doing chest rubs to keep her awake, but eventually the toxins were too much for her body to handle.

Along with finding Michelle a healthy liver fast, her doctors had to consider how a transplant would affect her unborn child. All Leonard could do was “sit back and pray” that a suitable donor liver would be found in time. Thankfully, the third organ located was a match. Michelle’s medical team worked quickly to perform successful back-to-back cesarean section and liver transplant surgeries—something that had rarely been done before.

When Michelle finally woke up in the intensive care unit, she had no idea that she had delivered her son—and received a new liver. Because of the effects of her coma, she also had to relearn basic functions, like walking and feeding herself, as well as adjust to a new diet and medication regimen.

Baby John stayed at the hospital for three months, growing in strength and in size. He was doing well until this past February, when he suffered two massive strokes that were likely caused by his premature birth. Sadly, he died a couple of days later.

Since losing her son, and coming to terms with her unexpected liver transplant, Michelle doesn’t take one single day for granted. She explains, “I do not live like this is the last day of my life. But I live, rather, with the knowledge that this day—and each and every day—is unique and will never be repeated again.”

Today, she has stopped planning and has started more doing. She’s now taking belly dancing lessons, operating an online store, training for a marathon in July, and looking forward to a Disneyland trip later this year with her husband and toddler daughter, Elektra.

“I play with my daughter more and worry about the dishes a lot less. I kiss my husband every chance I get.”

Michelle and Leonard are also advocates for organ donation awareness and are actively involved with the American Liver Foundation. They especially want to find ways to educate African Americans about the importance of becoming organ donors and to fight against the stigma surrounding liver health problems.