In addition to their mutual loves of family, music, sports, and a birthday exactly three years apart, Jared Wohl of Livingston, and his brother, Cameron Wohl of Little Falls, have been living and thriving with a shared liver for ten years.
It was February 11, 2014, when Jared successfully donated 65 percent of his liver to Cameron, who was living with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). PSC is a rare and chronic autoimmune disease that causes scarring and inflammation to the bile ducts of the liver. It was a life-saving event, and both livers regenerated back to full size and functionality within a few months. At the time Jared was 26, and Cameron, 23.
When National Donor Day took place on February 14 this year, Jared and Cameron decided to re-focus on another shared passion – spreading awareness and educating people about organ donation. They had begun to do so in 2013, when they founded an organization called The Wave Set, now a partner fund of the New Jersey Sharing Network. In 2016, they made a crowdfunded documentary, “65 Percent,” a powerful and personal look at the impact of organ donation. The documentary even features a song from Jared’s full-length album, “The Road,” which the Tribune featured in January of 2022. The documentary can be viewed at sharingnetworkfoundation.org/the-wave-set.
Both men used the word “surreal” to describe the ten years since the procedure.
“When I look back at the opportunities my brother now has, and the experience it provided me with, it’s unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced,” Jared said.
“It’s not lost on me how each day is a gift, even as you get caught up in the day-to-day stuff,” Cameron said. “I’m so grateful, I think of all the things I’ve done in that time span. It helped shape me into the person I am and the outlook I have.”
Because of his illness, Cameron had to leave school and was working in technology for Apple.
“For some time, I needed a transplant but there are not enough to go around, and I was not sick enough,” he recalled. “That’s when my brother stepped in.”
Soon after the transplant, Cameron went back to school to become a registered nurse. He wanted to go into surgery, and after graduating and passing his boards, took a job in the operating room at University Hospital in Newark. One of the surgeons from New York Presbyterian, where the brothers’ transplant was done, also went there to head up its transplant program.
“It was a full circle moment when I was able to work in a transplant case with him, scrubbing and circulating, as they say,” said Cameron.
After a couple of years, he shifted to working for a medical technical company, assisting in surgeries for specific therapies.
“It’s the perfect blend of my desire to work with patients and enrich lives, and draw on the technology that I kind of geek on,” he said.
More than 103,411 people are waiting for transplants, the brothers said.
“One way we can drive that number lower is to get more people to sign up as registered organ donors,” Jared said. “When a registered donor passes on, they can save up to eight people’s lives through organ donation. I had the opportunity to become a living donor, which I would also urge people to consider. One can donate a kidney, or a potion of their liver, to someone in need, which can mitigate the recipient from needing to wait until there is an eligible deceased donor. It’s a great way to donate while you’re healthy.”
“Registering as an organ donor is very important, if that’s your wish,” agreed Cameron. “Perhaps even more important is sharing that wish with your family; in a time of tragedy, the last thing you want is for your family to wonder what your wishes are. It takes a lot of pressure off the family to know that this is what you want.”
Cameron’s PSC is in remission, and, in January, he and his wife welcomed a baby boy, Lucas John, who will soon get to know Jared’s young boys, Quinn and Callan.
The brothers will be intensifying their efforts to spread awareness and educate alongside the New Jersey Sharing Network. For more information about becoming an organ and tissue donor, visit https://www.njsharingnetwork.org/. Those interested in the process of being a living donor may also email Jared at wohl.jared@gmail.com.
