Declan Nash

Declan Nash

Transplant Type: Liver

What if you were living on borrowed time?

Declan Nash: A bright, funny, kind, and resiliently strong four year old boy is fighting for his chance at life. Declan was born with a very rare Liver Disease known as  Biliary Atresia and was diagnosed 8 weeks after his birth in July of 2017. Around that time Declan underwent the lifesaving Kasai Operation at just ten weeks old with Dr. Hartman and his team with Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. After his Kasai procedure on August 2nd 2017, Declan stayed consistently “clinically” healthy on a daily prescription regimen for more than three years until his labs began to show his condition rapidly decline in August of 2020. After his GI team attempted to switch around antibiotics to keep his liver and labs stable, Declan was quickly hospitalized with Cholangitis in December of 2020. A stay that lasted a while and ended in his doctors saying a liver transplant is now critical to his survival. Declan is able to accept both options of ‘live’ and ‘deceased’ liver donation of any O blood type. Declan was actively listed for liver transplant donation as of New Years Day of 2021! What a way to ring in the New Year…

     This has been a difficult time for both Declan and his mother, Sarah. Sarah; a single mother of 3 children, has had to watch her son fight a health battle that would be hard for most adults to endure, while her other two children live with immediate family and she fights another battle to keep them close. Before Declan’s health began to decline, Declan enjoyed spending time with his family hiking, riding his bike, playing in the garden, and doing art projects. Declan’s favorite subject and instant mood booster since being allowed solids, has been any kind of food! But these days, his activities are quite limited and food is no longer an interest at all, he is mainly on a formula based soft diet. Both the Covid-19 Pandemic and Actively being listed for Liver Transplant contributed to his liver team requesting Declan to be pulled out of school and Sarah to remain at home to reduce further health risks. This has created even more financial strain on an already tough situation. Sarah looks forward to the transplant that will allow Declan the chance for a long, healthy, normal life, but right now… Declan needs your help!

Unfortunately, Declan’s hope for a new life comes at a very high price.

The average liver transplant costs approximately $878,000. And that’s only the beginning. Even with health insurance, which will cover a portion of the transplant costs, he faces significant expenses related to the surgery. For the rest of his life, he will need follow-up care and daily anti-rejection medications. Post-transplant medications are very expensive, and they’re as critical to his survival as the transplant itself.

Declan and Sarah live about 85 miles from the transplant center, and they incur substantial expenses each time he visits for hospitalizations,  evaluations,  and doctors’ appointments. When he receives his transplant, Declan and his mom will need to stay near the hospital, during a lengthy recovery, adding to the financial strain. If you would like explore the opportunity to be a live donor for Declan, please reach out to Sarah (mom) and she will get you in contact with Lourdes, their Living Donor Coordinator to answer any questions you may have. 

You can help by making a tax-deductible donation to the National Foundation for Transplants in honor of Declan.

If you'd prefer to send your gift by mail, please send it to the NFT California Transplant Fund, 3249 W. Sarazen’s Circle, Suite 100, Memphis, TN 38125. Please be sure to write "in honor of Declan Nash” in the memo line.

Thank you for your generosity!

Transplant Center: Stanford Health Care