Selah Kitchiner

Type of Donation:       liver recipient

Age and Location:      Age 20 - Sacramento, CA

Date of Transplant:           2/13/2015

Sponsor:                      Honored by Donor Network West with University of California San Francisco

SELAH’S STORY

As a child, Selah Kitchiner had big dreams of helping others and making a difference in the world. This was solidified when she was thirteen years old and diagnosed with liver failure. At the same time, her loving father was battling cancer for the second time. With her world flipped upside down, Selah had no idea where her life was headed, if at all. A month into battling liver failure, she received the crushing news that her father had passed away. Unable to leave the hospital due to her illness and unsure how to properly grieve, she felt helpless.

Although everything in her life seemed to be falling apart, one small group of people always seemed to have her best interest at heart: her medical team. Despite her chronic illness, they made her feel safe and prioritized. She was so appreciative of everything, she decided that a career in medicine was the path she wanted to take in her life. Two weeks after her father passed, Selah got the lifesaving call from the University of California, San Francisco, that an organ was available and Selah received a liver transplant the next day.

As Selah recovered, she worked hard, graduated high school and was accepted to her dream school, the University of Southern California (USC), where she is completing a degree in psychology on the pre-med track. In her time at USC, she has been volunteering with organizations like Project Sunshine, in which she provides pediatric patients with some much-deserved company. Selah is also involved in black student organizations forming relationships and receiving guidance from dedicated black students and USC alumni.

In her free time Selah loves completing puzzles, exercising, and helping the community. Donor Network West has provided her with an excellent platform to spread awareness about organ and tissue donation with diverse communities. As a recipient who has been given a second chance at life, she could not be more grateful for her new liver and all her transplant has allowed her to do; she cannot wait to enjoy the beautiful life ahead of her.