A Student at Icahn School of Medicine Saves Her Father’s Life by Becoming a Living Organ Donor
In 2012, Edward Allen went for a routine exam with his local gastroenterologist, and was surprised to learn he had developed cirrhosis of the liver. The doctor explained that despite the fact that Edward rarely drank alcohol, he had a rare genetic propensity for cirrhosis, which could be triggered by even minimal alcohol consumption.
With cirrhosis, there is higher risk of developing liver cancer, and Edward started regular liver cancer screenings. In 2023, a screening led to a diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer that develops in the bile ducts. This cancer has a very low survival rate, as it is usually discovered during the late stages of the disease after it has spread to other organs in the body (stage four). However, in Edward’s case, the cancer was detected very early on (stage one).
Edward initially received treatment near his home in Rochester, New York, where he underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, it soon became clear that with such an aggressive cancer, the only possible route for long-term survival would be a liver transplant. During the previous six months, his daughter Ashanay, a third-year medical student at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, had become actively involved in his care and could see that his condition was deteriorating.
“Things were getting worse”
“By July 2024, my dad was becoming more fatigued, and you could see that he was losing weight and there was a lot of muscle wasting; he was starting to decompensate and things were getting worse,” Ashanay says. “When we looked at his test results, his liver enzymes and bilirubin levels were increasing—those are markers to see liver function.”
Ashanay spoke about her father’s case with the attending physicians and clinical staff supervising her medical training; they encouraged her to make an appointment for him with the Mount Sinai liver transplantation team. She knew there were a number of serious hurdles for him to receive a liver transplant in time. His overall health was good despite the cancer, and it was likely that the wait time on the transplant list would be too long for him to survive.
Another option was to locate a living donor. Living donation involves a healthy person donating part of their liver. For a match to be successful, the donor needs to be a compatible blood type, and preoperative tests are carried out to ensure that the liver anatomy is compatible for both donor and recipient. The testing is extensive and makes sure that the procedure is as safe as possible for the potential donor—minimizing the risks for medical, social, financial and psychological issues after the transplant surgery. Remarkably, the liver is very unique and has the ability to regenerate to 90 percent within four weeks of donation.
A daughter steps up
Ashanay realized that her father’s best chance of survival would be to find a living donor—and set out to discover if she could be that donor.
“I knew the process and what happens, and I knew that Mount Sinai has one of the best transplant centers in the country,” Ashanay says. “I went to find out my blood type and decided if I was the same blood type, then I'd go through with the process. And I was the same blood type as him.”
In September 2024, after a visit with transplant coordinator Erica Thomas, RN, Ashanay arranged for her father to have an appointment with the team at the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai. Edward met with Sander S. Florman, MD, Director of the Transplantation Institute and a transplant surgeon, Thomas D. Schiano, MD, an expert in liver diseases and caring for patients prior to and after liver transplantation, and transplant coordinator Donna Concepcion, NP.
“My father absolutely loved them,” Ashanay says. “By October, the transplant team moved very quickly, and they had told me I was a match and could go through with the surgery for me and my dad. We scheduled it a week after my birthday, on November 19, so that way, I would have enough time to recover and then get back to my clinical rotations in January.”
“They explained everything clearly, what was involved, what they were going to do,” Edward says. “I could see right then that there was a good chance I would be alive after the surgery and could then move on with my life. And they were proven to be right—the team certainly did all that they said.”
The transplant took place as scheduled on November 19, 2024, with an eight-hour procedure for Edward, and a five-hour surgery for Ashanay. After three weeks, Edward was discharged and then stayed for several weeks at the Mount Sinai Transplant Living Center. He returned to the hospital after a few weeks for treatment of sepsis.
“One of the things that I really love about Mount Sinai is the way they handled my father’s medical care,” Ashanay says. “Once Donna, his transplant coordinator, found out she came to the hospital, she held his hand, just making sure that he was comfortable, she was there the entire time—and Dr. Schiano also checked in regularly.”
Ashanay was discharged from hospital after six days, and was able to make a full enough recovery to return to her medical studies in January 2025.
Recovering, with gratitude
Edward has been making steady progress since the procedure. He has returned to playing golf—his leisure-time passion. “Golf was one of the things I used to do regularly, and I was able to go out recently. I didn't play a full game, I just went out and hit some balls. But that tells me that I'm on my way to a perfect recovery.” He has also been given the all-clear to return to his work as a school bus driver.
“I have no hesitation in recommending Mount Sinai,” Edward says. “If you want to find good doctors and nurses, find a way to Mount Sinai. Especially with Dr. Florman, Dr. Schiano, and Donna Concepcion, those three people, they cover everything, and you won't regret it, you can rely on them 100 percent.”
About his daughter Ashanay, Edward says, “I give her the highest praise I can ever give, because she didn't have to do it. And when I look back, many times I cry—to know that my daughter decided to do that for me, I highly respect her for giving me that gift of life. Without her, I would not be here today.”
“The live liver donor is truly a remarkable human being—compassionate, selfless, and brave,” Dr. Schiano says. “It was a natural thing for Ashanay to do for her dad. These same qualities will make her an outstanding physician and exemplify the true bond between a daughter and her father.”