'We have no choice': Couple, 54, searching for liver donor for daughter, 22, with acute liver failure from rare genetic disease

UPDATE on Mar. 27 at 5pm: The family has stopped its search for a donor as their daughter has successfully recovered. They would like to thank all who volunteered for the transplant.

About three years ago, Shea Yeoh went for a routine health checkup. She was applying for an overseas university, where she hoped to study literature.

Her liver parameters were slightly off. But she had no symptoms, and the doctor assured them it was minor. Nothing to be concerned about.

When she returned home after graduating last August, she seemed fine — happy, healthy, excited to start her new job.

A few months later, she was lying in a hospital bed. Her liver had failed. She had just turned 22.

The search for a cause

Yeoh, a Malaysian, spent about two weeks in a Penang hospital before her parents decided to fly her to Singapore to seek treatment.

Her mother, 54-year-old Hann Nee, tells me that the doctors in Penang had done extensive tests on her liver.

But they were unable to find the cause of her abrupt illness.

One of the doctors, who had trained in Singapore, recommended that the family seek treatment at the National University Hospital (NUH).

In the meantime, Yeoh continued to deteriorate. One day, she woke up, and her face was yellow and jaundiced. In adults, this is a symptom of acute liver failure — a life-threatening condition.

Left with little choice, her parents flew her to Singapore. The doctors at NUH diagnosed it as Wilson's disease, a rare genetic condition.

They had apparently seen fewer than 10 cases over the past 30 years. And the only solution was a transplant.

A fighter

Hann Nee describes her daughter as a fighter. Strong-willed and determined, she had never taken the easy path in anything.

Watching her effervescent daughter get weaker by the day was painful. "I couldn't hold myself together," she said, her voice cracking.

Yeoh cried for the first two days after receiving her diagnosis. But she maintained a positive outlook, even commenting that she would get a "cool scar to show off" if she did get a transplant.

"I'll be able to write a book detailing everything I've gone through, to motivate people," she told her mother one day. "That's the least of your problems," Hann Nee quipped.

Looking for a donor

As Yeoh is not a Singaporean, she is not eligible for deceased liver donations. This means she needs a live volunteer donor.

Currently, she's undergoing an experimental plasma therapy.

But no one has ever survived acute Wilson's disease liver failure through it, Hann Nee said.

While the trial continues, the family is searching for a donor who's willing to stand by for a transplant if the need arises. The surgery involves part of the liver being donated, which eventually regenerates in both the donor and the recipient.

Neither Hann Nee nor her husband are eligible for medical reasons, and Yeoh's sister is still underage and unable to consent.

"We have no choice but to go out and ask the public for help," the older woman said, her voice trembling.

If you'd like to help

Donor candidates have to be aged 18 to 60, have blood type 0, be in good general health, and be willing to undergo screening.

If a candidate is found to be ineligible, the transplant team will not proceed.

The whole surgery will cost around S$200,000, which Hann Nee and her husband will cover in full.

Asked how she plans to fund the surgery, Hann Nee said that she has saved enough money in her retirement fund.

"Between spending the money later for holidays, and spending the money now to save my daughter's life, I think it's an easy choice," she said.

If you're open to being screened as a liver donor, you can email [email protected].

Top image from Hann Nee