There are thousands of people across the nation who are waiting for a liver transplant, and for some of those individuals — particularly young children — finding a donor match can be especially difficult. Hope, however, arises when people like Bobby Click step up to help a stranger in need by becoming a living non-directed donor, also known as an anonymous or altruistic donor.
Click started the journey of becoming a donor in 2025 through the Living Donor Liver Transplantation Program at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), led by transplant hepatologist Whitney Jackson, MD, and Chief of Transplant Surgery Trevor Nydam, MD. After completing a diligent vetting process, Click has been approved to become a donor, and the transplant team is now working to identify the right liver recipient for him.
“Liver disease is incredibly prevalent and one of the most common reasons for death. Living donors are saving lives,” says Jackson, an associate professor in the CU Anschutz Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. “But most people don’t even know that it’s possible to donate part of their liver.”
Widely recognized as having the longest-running liver transplant program in the world, CU Anschutz is “the best place” to get a liver transplant, Jackson says, highlighting the institution’s legacy of innovation. For instance, in 2023, Nydam, who is chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery in the CU Anschutz Department of Surgery and clinical director of the UCH Transplant Center, led the department’s first robotic liver transplant — a less-invasive surgery that offers donors an easier recovery process.
Although more liver transplants take place in the United States each year, the number of people added to the waitlist outpaces the supply of organs, Jackson explains. Some data suggest that the risk of dying while waiting for a liver transplant is 13%.
Given the need for more donors like Click, we asked Jackson and Nydam common questions about the transplant process, how the surgery works, and the value of non-directed living liver donations.
The following interview has been edited and condensed.