By Ruth Manuel-Logan
Special To The Times
A year ago, Eduardo Camargo was on one of the toughest missions of his life, but it was a battle he had to win at all costs. Camargo needed to lose forty pounds in less than two months so that he could be a liver donor for his baby girl, Jazlyn, according to ABC News.
The 35-year-old dad, who weighed in at 210 pounds, had a fatty liver, which is common in people who are overweight. People who are obese in general are also not good candidates for organ donation because they have a greater risk of complications during surgery.
Camargo had always battled the bulge and was never a victor. This go-round however, Camargo had to win his fight since he had made the decision that he’d be the one to save his daughter’s life, not his wife, because he felt his three children needed a mother more than a father.
Camargo, who had not exercised since high school, set his sights on dropping the weight for Jazlyn, who suffered from biliary atresia, an oftentimes congenital and life-threatening condition in infants, in which the bile ducts inside or outside the liver do not have normal openings.
The devoted and determined dad began cutting his meals down, incorporating more veggies into his diet and drinking water instead of soft drinks. He also added running to his exercise regimen, which became especially taxing on his knees. The doting dad told ABC News, “There were days when I thought my knees would give out and all I wanted to do was stop, but I would think of my daughter and I would keep going. After a while I worked my way up to six miles in an hour.”
Jazlyn’s determined father’s hard work in losing the weight paid off in November of last year when he got down to 180 pounds in less than two months. The weight loss also resulted in a liver fat percentage decrease to under 2 percent, which pleased the transplant doctors.
Camargo became cleared for the surgery just one day before Jazlyn’s liver began to fail. The next day, Camargo underwent the surgery where doctors removed one-third of his liver to give to his daughter.
Both surgeries were successful.
Camargo will suffer no ill effects from the surgery and his liver regenerated within three months after the procedure. Jazlyn will, however, have to remain on immunosuppressant medications, but should lead a normal life.
Now more than a year later, Camargo and Jazlyn are fine. He has maintained the majority of his weight loss and is grateful to be able to enjoy the holidays with his baby. Camargo has also become an avid supporter of organ donation. As a matter of fact, he managed to get his entire clan to sign the backs of their driver’s licenses to become organ donors as well.
Now, nothing warms the devoted dad’s heart more than seeing his little girl actively running all about his home. “It’s a scary experience going through it but the outcome pays off,” Camargo told ABC News. “When you see your child running up and down, you know something good came out of it.”
