When Blake Hermann was seven months old, his mother, Molly, noticed that he wasn’t progressing like his twin sister Anna. He had yet to roll over and his coloring seemed a bit yellow. She decided to make a doctor’s appointment.
Following many tests and a visit at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, they finally learned that Blake had Type 1 progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, a rare disorder in which bile does not drain from the liver. Blake was extremely itchy, jaundiced, suffering from a severe lack of sleep and his liver was failing.
After maxing out all the medications available, Blake’s doctor decided the only option was a liver transplant. Blake was officially added to the organ transplant waiting list at the end of April 2024.
Molly’s family encouraged her to launch a social media page detailing Blake’s health struggle and status on the waiting list in hopes a living donor might come through. Several anonymous offers to donate came but none were a match. His medical team worked with the United Network for Organ Sharing to move him higher on the transplant waiting list given the quality of life the toddler was experiencing.
Finally on the last day of July, returning home from her grandmother’s funeral, Molly received the call she had been praying for.
“Grandma Rose definitely had a hand in it,” Molly said. “I firmly believe that.”
On August 1, the two-year-old received his lifesaving liver transplant, thanks to a generous deceased donor.
“He is a completely different kid now,” she shares. “It happened almost immediately after his transplant. He wasn’t itching. He was sleeping and eating normally. He’s such a brave and strong little boy. The world has been thrown at him, but he’s such a fighter. He’s handled all of this better than I have.”
Blake’s twin sister and older brother are also happy to see Blake become his healthy happy self. While Blake was in the hospital recovering from his transplant, Molly and her husband, Ken, Facetimed the siblings so they could visit. Once Blake was out of the ICU, they reunited for what Molly describes as “the most adorable reunion ever.”
Molly and Ken are currently working on ways to share their gratitude to all who helped Blake during a tremendously scary and stressful time for their family, including thanking Blake’s donor and donor family.
“There’s no amount of words, or anything I can say that seem like enough,” she said. “That is the ultimate gift that family gave us. They gave my baby another chance at life. We just wish we could do something to pay them back. All in due time, we will. We are so thankful to them.”
The best way to save lives is by joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. Join today by visiting golm.org/register.
