Episode 04: Miracle After Miracle with Liver Recipient John Mock

During this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson speaks with John Mock, a salesman for a large wheelchair manufacturer. His life took a turn two years ago when his liver failed after 56 years of perfect health. It took a ridiculous set of miracles for John to get his new liver, but he did, and his story is absolutely inspiring!

Episode Highlights: 

• John details his background as a traveling sales manager for a large wheelchair manufacturer.
• John discusses the moment, two years ago, when he realized that something was wrong with his liver.
• The doctors could not figure out what was going on with John’s liver because he passed all tests that they could throw at him.
• The ammonia build-up from liver failure was taking away John’s ability to focus.
• Excessive sleeping led John to the conclusion that something was definitely going wrong.
• John’s liver specialist sent him to the University of Cincinnati’s transplant program.
• MELD (Model for Endstage Liver Disease) goes from 6 (years to live) to 40 (death); John was a 24.
• After some mini-miracles, John was able to accelerate the process of getting on the transplant waiting list.
• A battery of tests and blood work stood between John and getting on the transplant list.
• Expecting a long wait to get on the list to get the tests run, a cancellation got John in for his test two days after his acceptance into the program.
• Canceling the family vacation was tough, but John had to be close enough to get to the hospital.
• John was accepted onto the transplant list and found a donor within the same day.
• Recipients have to manage their expectations because there is a chance the organ is not a good match.
• It was important for John to reach out to the family of the donor to express his gratitude and condolences.
• Only 6 weeks after his surgery, John was on a plane to his national sales meeting in Colorado.
• Relying on others for everything was incredibly humbling for John as a natural go-getter.
• 27 days after his surgery, John and his family were able to meet his donor family and they hit it off.
• The liver that John has now is not his own, but has been inside two other people along the way.
• It’s incredibly difficult to have a healthy relationship between the recipient and the donor family.
• What it was like connecting with his donor family and how hard it remains for them to this day.
• If both sides can see that through donation, it can help both sides move forward.
• The gift of life is shared between two families, two worlds really, in the case of organ donation.
• It all starts with the decision that two people do not have to die.
• You see life from a completely different perspective when you come so close to death.
• John works tirelessly as an advocate to make sure that his donor’s family would be proud.
• Hope doesn’t get people to become donors, but it is a strategy.
• Anyone can be a registered organ donor and give hope to someone in need.

3 Key Points:

1. John’s life completely changed when his liver failed two years ago. Through some mini-miracles, John was able to get in front of the board of the University of Cincinnati’s transplant program.
2. Organ recipients tend to question what they have done to deserve to live and why someone else had to die. The harsh reality of life sets in at some point.
3. It’s incredibly humbling when your body and mind stop you from doing certain things and you are forced to rely on others to do things for you.

Resources Mentioned:

• LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
• Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
• John Mock (Facebook) 
• Hope is Not a Strategy - Book
• United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
• University of Cincinnati Medical Center