Christine and Stephen Patterson from Mooresville, NC were beyond excited to welcome a beautiful baby boy into the world on August 4, 2021. Soon after Silas was born, he was diagnosed with a very rare version of a genetic condition that caused him to have several rare and life-threatening illnesses including four heart defects and a liver condition called Biliary Atresia. Silas is now eleven months old, and unfortunately, has spent the majority of his life in the hospital. Silas underwent open heart surgery in June, 2022 at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to repair his heart, despite being turned down by three hospitals before that. Silas’s heart surgery was risky due to his failing liver and complex anatomy, so many hospitals had turned down his case. Silas is a bit unique as only five babies have ever been reported to have this version of his illness. Silas finally found the help he needed at UPMC Children’s, but he needs a liver transplant soon as he is in End Stage Liver Disease. Now that his heart is corrected, Silas’s outlook is good if he can get the liver transplant he desperately needs. Due to limited resources, the transplant wait list can be long, so the majority of liver transplants come from live donors. To find out more about living donor transplants visit this link:  https://www.upmc.com/services/transplant/liver/living-donor 

To see if you are eligible, live donor criteria can be found here: https://www.upmc.com/services/transplant/liver/living-donor/candidates 

Unfortunately, Silas’s parents are not a match for him and are unable to be donors. A few family and friends are being tested, but Baby Silas needs help soon. Silas is blood type O Positive and needs a donor that is a variation of O. If you find it in your heart to help this child, you can fill out the online application here livingdonorreg.upmc.com. Even if you can’t be a donor, please help share Silas’s story so hopefully it will make it’s way to finding Silas the help he needs.