By Michael Hasch

Published: Saturday, November 10, 2012, 12:01 a.m.
Updated: Wednesday, January 9, 2013

A Butler County family made an appeal on Friday night for a liver donor to save the life of their critically ill teenage son.

“The doctors said today that basically, if he doesn't get a new liver in the next 36 hours, his condition is life-threatening,” said Linda Snow of Butler in making the appeal for her 14-year-old son, Adam Snow.

“They said he can recover fully if he gets a liver, and if not, he will die. We are desperate. This is our last hope.”

All of Adam's five siblings have offered to donate half of their livers, but physicians have told them it is too late for a partial transplant, his mother said.

Snow said her son, who became ill about three weeks ago, can be saved only by receiving the liver of someone who dies and whose family makes a direct and specific donation.

Adam, a ninth-grader at Butler Area Intermediate High School, was a healthy, happy teen on Oct. 19 when he played on the school football team, his mother said.

“He didn't feel that great Saturday but went hunting. Sunday, he just didn't look good, and his eyes were a little jaundiced,” Linda Snow said.

She took him to a doctor on Oct. 23. The physician ran a blood test and told Snow and her husband, Melvin “Skip” Snow, to get their son to Children's Hospital.

“He came into the hospital joking around, and now he's heavily sedated and hooked up to all kinds of tubes and machines,” Linda Snow said.

Physicians diagnosed Adam with acute liver failure caused by a virus that has not been identified.

Snow said Adam's blood type is O negative, which means he can accept a liver from someone who is O positive or type A or B.

Any family who wishes to donate a liver is asked to call the Center for Organ Recovery & Education at 800-366-6777.

Michael Hasch is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7820 or mhasch@tribweb.com.

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