'An Easy Decision:' One Devoted Local Dad Donates Liver To Another

TINLEY PARK, IL — Two Kirby District 140 families are forever linked, thanks to one man's generosity and what doctors called a "beautiful" liver. A husband and father of three was given more time with his family, and a healthy organ to replace his ailing one.

Tinley Park residents Dan Droszcz and his wife Nancy were given a bleak outlook in April 2021, when the 52-year-old was told he had stage IV, terminal liver cancer. Doctors at the time said his condition was so grave, a transplant was not an option, but that they would do what they could to prolong his life. He underwent chemo, and radiation, and a portion of his liver was resected.

"But it was still a sick liver," Nancy Droszcz said.

They were warned the cancer had a high recurrence rate, but were told that if eventually, his scans continued to be clear and showed the cancer wasn’t growing outside the liver, he could be in line for a donor. But because he was considered in better health than most on the transplant list, he would fall lower in the order, and his wait for an organ would be lengthy. His best chance was a living donor, they said. So the family set to work.

Testing showed none of the immediate family members were a match, Nancy said. Unfazed, they did whatever they could to get the word out. They posted fliers, started a GoFundMe, shared on Facebook, created a website — all to find Droszcz's perfect match. Slowly, the emails began to roll in, and doctors in the transplant clinic prepared to test potential donors.

And it only took one.

The first potential donor they evaluated was Frankfort resident Chris Staehlin, a 35-year-old father of two and husband to an instructional coach at Christa McAuliffe Elementary in Kirby District 140. Staehlin arrived at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for his first tests on June 20, and everything moved quickly from there, said his wife Sarah.

They knew very little about Droszcz, but most importantly knew that he was a local dad of three. The Staehlins themselves have two sons: 7-year-old Patrick, and 3-year-old Henry.

"I think when we first made the decision to look into it, we knew that Dan was a dad, and we really felt like if we were in their position, we would want someone to do it for us," Sarah said. "So that was a big motivator. We’ll often say to ourselves, we don’t have 'big problems,' we have little annoyances, and we should really do more. This was the ultimate ‘do more.’

"... We had some long talks ... We have two little kids ourselves. It came across our plate for a reason."

They decided as a pair that they would stay anonymous until after the procedure, Sarah said, which was tricky.

"We knew that the recipient family wanted to meet the donor," she said. "Chris just felt as though, if a lab came back, and he couldn’t donate, he didn’t want that emotional attachment until after.

"I was in favor of meeting them whenever Chris was ready."

The two went into their respective surgeries on Wednesday, August 24. For Droszcz, it was a 20-hour ordeal; for Staehlin, nine hours. As Staehlin's grogginess cleared, one thing was on his mind.

"The first thing he asked was, 'How’s Dan?' Sarah said. "We felt like we already knew them."

With both patients on the (slow and steady) mend, the families met Saturday, Aug. 27. Though Sarah had taught in the school district the Droszcz's children had attended, they had not met previously.

"How's my liver treatin' ya?" Staehlin asked when meeting Droszcz.

"It's treating me good," Droszcz said. "I love you, man. You're family now."

The anonymity leading up to the reveal was both a thrill and shock to both families.

"The fact that she was able to keep this a secret for so long, is amazing," Nancy said. "We cannot express how grateful we are. He's a genuine Good Samaritan, a hero. For someone we don’t even know to do this, it’s just remarkable."

The Staehlins feel the same.

"It’s wild," Staehlin told Patch. "That’s the only word that comes to me. It’s unreal, that I was eligible to do this for someone.

"It’s a wild ride, from the start until now. Crazy that this is an option, crazy that I was able to help someone like this."

The Droszcz children—19-year-old Aggie and Kayley and Kai, twin seniors at Andrew High School—will benefit from Staehlin's gift for the rest of their and their dad's life, the latter which will hopefully now be much longer than doctors once warned.

"It’s wonderful, I have a new lease on life," Droszcz said. "I’m doing great, I’m so appreciative. He’s a hero!"