Deontae and Di’Jon Thomas were always close growing up in Acworth.
While the siblings, who are two years apart, shared many things, they now share something even more important — a lifesaving liver.
Di'Jon Thomas told Channel 2 Action News that she nearly passed out when she was 16 years old, leading to a rare and frightening diagnosis. Doctors said she had primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), which is a chronic liver disease usually found in men over 30 years old — not teenage girls.
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“It was crazy. I thought I was about to die,” she told Channel 2. “That was the first big scare.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
The next scare was learning more about the disease, which slowly damages a liver's bile ducts. That can eventually lead to liver failure, bile duct cancer or colon cancer, according to the American Liver Foundation.
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The teen, who has aspirations of becoming a teacher, was placed on a national transplant list by Emory Hospital last summer. While she needed a new liver badly, this escalation didn’t ease her worries.
“You have to be super, super, super sick,” she told Channel 2. “Basically on your death bed.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Her family waited, but they never found a match, leading them to take matters into their own hands, the news station reported. Five family members were tested, and her brother was the only match.
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“Family will do what they can for their family,” Deonte Thomas said.
For him, that meant undergoing 19 hours of surgery in January so his sister, who is also raising a young daughter, could receive a portion of his liver.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
“For as long as I live, I feel that will never go away — knowing that I saved a family member’s life,” he said.
The surgery cost the family more than $250,000, according to Channel 2, and they have set up a GoFundMe page to help pay those medical bills.
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