Madison Man's Life Depends On Finding A Living Liver Donor

MADISON, CT — They met as dorm resident advisors at Western New England University in the mid-80s. Amy Drotar was from Branford and Kevin Prue was from Clinton. They'd marry in 1989 after being "best friends" while in college. They raised their two children Nicholas and Alexandra and careers took them to New Jersey. They've lived a good and full life.

Then, in 2018, Kevin Prue was diagnosed with End Stage Liver Disease. The couple moved back to the Shoreline —where they both grew up — to be nearer to family, settling in Madison.

Now a patient of the Yale New Haven Transplant Center, Prue needs a life-saving liver transplant.

His best chance for a successful outcome is to find a matching living donor, his family said.

As April is National Donate Life Month, the family told Patch, they hope his story will not only lead to a liver donor, "but also to help raise awareness for the vast need for organ, eye and tissue donors everywhere."

As a candidate for a donor liver transplant, he's been on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting list since March 2020.

The wait list is his family says his "health is expected to continue to decline while waiting."

"Time is of the essence as this disease is really beginning to take its toll on Kevin and our family," his daughter-in-law Jennifer Prue told Patch. His "life depends on us finding him a living donor."

"Nationally, more than 13,000 people are waiting for a liver to become available, and there are far from enough organs to meet the demand and living donors expand the pool of available donations," Jennifer Prue noted, adding that a "portion of a liver from a compatible living donor can be transplanted and will regenerate to full size in both the donor and recipient within 6 to 8 weeks."

His immediate family and many others have been tested and none are a match, she said, "So we need to humble ourselves and ask for help more broadly."

The family says that End Stage Liver Disease is a "rollercoaster of epic proportions, medically and emotionally and we are all struggling. But we will dig deep, stay positive and face this hurdle together, just as we have all the others. We are a team, if one is weak, the others are strong."

Anyone interested in learning more about living donation on Kevin's behalf can call the Yale-New Haven Transplant Center @ 866-925-3897 or visit www. YNHH.org/OrganDonation

The Center for Living Organ Donation will provide information, guidance, resources and support without obligation to anyone interested in finding out how they can help.

Read more on the 'Kevin's Journey to Liver Transplant' Facebook page.