Medical Student with Camera Follows as a Man Donates Part of His Liver to His Mother

Second-year medical student Harras Zaid has seen his share of organ transplants. Under the wing of UCSF transplant surgeons, he has traveled to distant hospitals to observe as the body of a person whose life has ended gives up the organs that will save or enhance many other lives. In operating rooms at UCSF Medical Center, he has seen patients in dire conditions transformed as organs damaged by disease are replaced by healthy livers, kidneys, hearts and lungs. Zaid is an experienced photographer and a contributor to UCSF's weekly student newspaper, Synapse. He asked Nancy Ascher, MD, PhD, chair of surgery, for permission to photograph the transplant procedure. Ascher and John Roberts, MD, chief of the UCSF Transplantation Service, offered to let him film in their adjoining operating rooms as they conducted one of the most challenging transplant operations: removing part of the liver from a living donor to restore the health of a recipient with advanced liver disease. Donor Michael Ansell and his mother, Deanna McLemore, gave their permission for Zaid to photograph their experience. Gift of Life: Son's Liver Donation Saves His Mother is published today in Synapse, in the newspaper's first use of process color. In partnership with Zaid and Synapse, we're offering a slideshow of these photos, along with additional images not included in the paper's print edition. Related Links: Gift of Life: Son's Liver Donation Saves His Mother Synapse, December 7, 2006 Spotlight: Harras Zaid Live Transplant Photos UCSF Today, December 7, 2006 UCSF Transplantation Service "The Wait for Life" Highlights Organ Sharing Debate, with UCSF's Liver Transplant Service at the Center UCSF Today, September 29, 2006 Profiles: Carrie Shellhammer: Double-lung Transplant Patient Looking Forward to Ski Season UCSF Medical Center, October 2005 Profiles: Alex Esteverena: Kid Brother's Kidney Keeps Father of Two Alive UCSF Medical Center, 2001

Organ Donors Can Express Their Commitment Online More than 18,000 Californians are waiting for organ transplants that can save their lives and restore their normal health. One-third will die before an organ is found. Only a few organs (kidney, liver, lung, intestine) can be donated by a living friend or relative - and even when friends would be glad to donate, they must have a matching blood type and meet the medical criteria for such an operation. Yet, even if you would like to donate your organs in case of your unfortunate death, you can't depend on the pink dot on your driver's license to make that possible. Now, Californians can sign up online to join the Donate Life California organ and tissue donor registry, a list that identifies willing donors throughout California. In the process, you can sign a document to help inform your family that you would like to give the gift of life to others. One person's donation can help: One donor can save or enhance the lives of more than 50 people. To sign up, learn more and read the stories of transplant families, visit Donate Life California. To volunteer to help raise awareness of transplant organ donation, visit the California Transplant Donor Network website or call 510/444-8500 (toll-free 888/570-9400).