Boy's eyes tell scary story about his liver

Ahmad Scott’s life turned upside down the day his sister burst into their house in Greenwood, South Carolina with a story that sounded too strange to be true.

Their mother remembers it clearly. “It was June 14, on a Tuesday. His sister came in and was like, ‘Mom, Ahmad’s eyes are yellow.’ I was like, ‘Whatever. Quit playing with me.’” Shanita Harrison said. “But I went out to look at him, and his eyes were golden yellow.”

Ahmad felt just fine. The sports-loving nine-year-old wanted to keep on playing. But his mom took him to the hospital anyway. “Our hometown emergency room admitted him from there, and we stayed there till Friday. That’s when they sent us to MUSC Children’s Hospital.”

While it was clear that something was wrong with Ahmad’s liver, causing the jaundice that made his eyes look yellow, he still didn’t act sick. “He was running around playing like a normal child,” Harrison said. “We thought maybe it was hepatitis, nothing to worry about.”

So when pediatric gastroenterologist Nagraj Kasi, M.D., said Ahmad might need a liver transplant, Harrison was skeptical – and scared. “In my head, he was going to recover. I didn’t want to hear anything about a liver transplant.”

But a liver function test showed Ahmad’s liver was failing. The cause remains a mystery to this day. Transplant surgeon Satish Nadig, M.D., Ph.D., got to know the family. “Ahmad is someone whom I will never forget,” he said. “When I first met him, his liver disease was a surprise to everyone and quickly he became very sick only to have days to live.”

Doctors did a biopsy on June 27, less than two weeks after Ahmad’s sister noticed his eyes had changed color. Harrison said things moved fast from there. “By the time he got out from the biopsy, about 1:30 that afternoon, Dr. Nadig came in and said we have a liver for him.”

That was thanks to another family that donated a loved one’s liver after the person’s death through the United Network for Organ Sharing. It was life-saving news for Ahmad. At that point, the Greenwood boy’s liver was functioning about 10 percent of what it should have been. “He was dying. It didn’t look like he was dying, but he was,” Harrison said. 

Ahmad had surgery the next morning. Two weeks later, he was able to go home. “It’s a big adjustment for him,” his mother said. “He loves football, he loves basketball. He can’t play football this year. He asked, ‘Why didn’t you tell me I was that sick?’ I said, ‘Baby, I didn’t know.’” 

Ahmad takes anti-rejection medicine every day. Nadig, the surgeon who operated on him, is working to help future transplant patients have an easier time with their medications. He recently received a prestigious National Institutes of Health award to look for new ways to reduce the harmful effects of immunosuppressant therapy.

Lee Patterson Allen Transplant Immunobiology Laboratory

Nadig and Carl Atkinson, Ph.D., are co-directors of MUSC’s Lee Patterson Allen Transplant Immunobiology Laboratory, recently re-named after a family with a history of needing kidney transplants. That family has donated a half million dollars to support the lab’s work.

The lab is doing some exciting work, including:

• Looking for new ways to help the body tolerate transplanted organs
• Serving as a national leader in the fields of biotechnology and immunotherapy, improving the length of time that transplanted organs last and the length of patients’ lives
• Pre-treating donors and donor organs, which helps the organs withstand the process of transplantation
• Investigating new ways to protect organs before transplantation

Nadig and the transplant team are also making sure the children they care for continue to get the support they need. This spring, they’re planning to hold a picnic that was postponed by Hurricane Matthew for kids who have already had transplants and children who are on the waiting list. 

For Nadig, it will be a reminder of what the state’s only pediatric transplant program tries to do: restore children’s health and sense of normalcy. “To see the families and kids who have benefited from the gift of life with an organ transplant is extremely gratifying,” Nadig said. “The act of organ transplantation not only saves the lives of children but allows them to go an and lead healthy productive lives. These kids are truly an inspiration to us all and have overcome some of the most difficult hurdles in life at an early age.” 

Ahmad’s mother will be at the picnic, too. “Ahmad has been through so much. He needs to meet other kids who have been through the same situation he’s been through. That will let him know he’s not the only one who’s been through it.”

To register to be an organ donor, visit the United Network for Organ Sharing.