It’s the nightmare all parents hope never happens to their children. It was a regular school day when 8-year-old Brayden Auten was sent home sick, and within 24 hours, he was admitted to a children’s hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The doctors discovered an unknown, yet aggressive virus attacking his liver, making young Brayden very sick. His parents stayed by his side, watching him get sicker and sicker. “And then about two days later it just started going downhill and just kept going downhill,” said his father, James Auten.
In less than one week, it became clear that Brayden was seriously ill. The doctors assessed the situation and decided to put Brayden on the list for a donor immediately. “It was the Sunday after we got there, they finally looked at us, they’re like, ‘We’re bypassing everything. He’s going on the list tonight,’” said his father.
With the average wait for a liver transplant almost a year, his parents decided to reach out to friends, family, and community on Facebook, and a family member started a Go Fund Me page. Anything they could to help Brayden and get things moving along. “We need your prayers and miracle for healing and to find him a liver soon. I appreciate everyone’s love and support through this,” said the post on Facebook. They received an outpouring of support, with dozens of people phoning up to determine if they could be a match for Brayden. None of them were.
Meanwhile, ICU nurse Cami Loritz took care of Brayden and his family, watching their ordeal unfold. As a nurse in a children’s hospital, she had seen many heartbreaking scenarios, but when the Auten family’s wait for a liver donor stretched out into weeks, she decided to see if there was something she could do to help.
Cami discovered that she was indeed a match for Brayden and stepped up to volunteer as a liver donor for him. When the Autens discovered what this selfless nurse had done, they called her an angel. “We can’t thank her enough. She’s a true miracle. We consider her one of us, one of our family,” said Brayden’s mom, Ruth Auten. Both Brayden and Cami were set up for surgery almost immediately.
The surgeries went well, and after a long recovery period, the Autens set up a professional photoshoot to commemorate the occasion, with Cami and Brayden proudly displaying their scars and celebrating the amazing outcome. “The pictures say everything,” said mom Ruth.
Cami Loritz shared the photos and more, urging people to become donors themselves. “With the number of people on the organ transplant waiting list tremendously exceeding the number of available deceased donor organs, living donation is a way to help close that gap and better meet these demands,” she wrote in the post. A liver donor actually only donates part of their liver, and within six months, their liver has usually regenerated to its original size, making liver donations one of the most feasible out of the organs, as well as one of the most needed.
Loritz shared this crucial information along with links like Donate Life America for those to register as a donor, which states that although “95% of Americans support organ donation […] only 58% are registered donors,” a shocking statistic that Loritz is hoping to change. She also shared a link to the kidney and liver donor program at Froedtert Hospital where she works.
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