Patient’s Elation Turns to Dejection in 2 Hours : Transplant Delayed as Donor’s Family Reneges

After waiting nearly a year for a liver transplant, Richard Anderson was elated when his beeper went off in church just as the pastor was bringing the congregation up to date on Anderson’s condition.

Answering the page in the rectory office of Loving Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardena, Anderson found UCLA Medical Center in Westwood calling to say that a donor had been found, one that perfectly matched his uncommon blood type, B positive.

Told to mentally prepare for surgery while paper work was completed, Anderson rejoined the congregation Sunday, took Communion, received a standing ovation, then went home to await the operation.

It never came.

The elation turned to dejection two hours later when UCLA telephoned and said the donor’s family, which had verbally agreed to the transplant, reneged for reasons that were still unknown today.

It was the first time a prospective donor’s family had refused to sign the surgical consent form at UCLA after verbally agreeing to the procedure, said nurse Marilyn Hoff, liver transplant coordinator.

Anderson, 40, married with a 10-year-old daughter, could die in less than a year if his liver is not replaced. But he did not criticize the prospective donor’s family, although he was physically and emotionally drained by Sunday’s events, which included gathering at home with family and friends for moral support.

Meanwhile, Anderson waits for another donor. Despite Sunday’s letdown, his spirits are improving, his wife, Inez, said.

“At least we know the beeper works,” she said.