Woman donates part of liver to mother of late son’s best friend with groundbreaking procedure

By Nicky Zizaza

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    Maryland (WJZ) — A Maryland woman donated part of her liver to save the life of the mother of her late son’s best friend by virtue of a groundbreaking robotic surgical procedure.

Anjanette Lynchard and Mary Ann Carroll raised their children in a Howard County neighborhood where they became best friends.

“They would get up, they would get their fishing poles, and they would get their bucket and walk to the end of the street. It was like being in Mayberry,” Carroll said.

Time passed, their families moved, and the mothers lost touch. However, grief would bring them back together.

“One month after my son’s funeral, I got a knock on the door, and it was Mary Ann,” Lynchard said. “I couldn’t believe it was her because I hadn’t seen her in 11 years.”

Liver disease diagnosis

When Carroll came to offer condolences, Lynchard looked at her and noticed something troubling.

She had looked kind of yellowish, she didn’t look the same,” Lynchard said. “And I asked her, ‘Mary Ann, how you are doing?,’ and she went on to tell me about her three-year health challenges she was going through.”

Carroll was suffering from end-stage liver disease.

“In October of 2021, I was diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,” Carroll said.

“I told her I was going to pray for her. I asked God to bring her a donor and to heal her,” Lynchard said.

Neither knew at the time that Lynchard would be the donor.

“With this disease, I just knew I would progressively get worse,” Carroll said.

“It was a match”

After a mission trip to Costa Rica, Lynchard said she saw Carroll’s Facebook post about needing a liver donation.

Without hesitation, Lynchard started the process.

“So, I did some research, and I told my husband, I’m going to see if I’m a match,” Lynchard said.

Turns out, Lynchard was a match.

“When they told us it was a match, I called Mary Ann,” Lynchard said. “I said, ‘Mary Ann, I’m a match.’ She was so happy. I said we are going to do it.”

Not a simple decision

However, this wasn’t a simple decision. Transplant surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Philosophe, from Johns Hopkins, said a living liver donation is a major surgery, with a 30% chance of complications.

“The success rate is actually equal,” Philosophe said. “The recipient who receives a living donor liver does just as well, maybe even better than patients who receive deceased donors.”

Even with the risks, Lynchard never wavered.

“The best thing for a broken heart is to help others, so as I was doing all of this, I was being healed.”

Most people who do it donate to a spouse, a child, or even a sibling, not a former neighbor.

“When I called her and told her I was a match, she was so excited, but then she was also like, ‘Angie, are you sure that you want to do this because you are going through so much right now?’ I said, ‘No, I’m doing it in my son’s honor.”

Robotic advancement

The procedure was groundbreaking and believed to be the first time in Maryland that a robotic system was used to operate on the right lobe of a living donor to minimize complications.

“This robotic advancement is pretty significant because we avoid making the large incisions, we make small incisions that actually have an impact on recovery and have an impact on complication rate,” Philosophe said.

“I could just imagine my son saying, ‘Way to go, mom, that was Philip’s mom that you are helping,'” Lynchard said.

The more than 8-hour transplant operation was a success.

“My God, it was amazing,” Carroll said. “She was literally saving my life. I was coming to terms with not being here for my kids when they get married, or who knows, maybe grandkids.”

Special meaning

Lynchard said the timing held a special meaning.

“On December 3, it was three days before it was my son’s birthday, and I had made a post that said, ‘Happy Heavenly Birthday, Forever 23,” Lynchard said. “That’s when 23 started to become significant in our story. Twenty-three started showing up everywhere. Right when I got out of ICU and headed into my hospital room, I was just coming back to my bed, I saw a plate that said 23 right above and i went outside and looked, and it said Lynchard 23.”

Carroll said this second chance at life wasn’t just science—it was something bigger.

“If Philip and Jared had not been friends, I’d still be on that list waiting,” Carroll said. “It’s those relationships that you cherish when you have them. It makes me more aware of everyone you come in contact with and how relationships form and how they can save lives.”

Both women prove that in loss, there can be healing, and in tragedy, there can be hope.

Lynchard said she recovered quickly following the transplant procedure and that her liver has already regenerated. Their decision to donate also moved someone up the United Network for Organ Sharing list.

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