Maryland family takes search for liver donation public as son suffers from rare disorder

BALTIMORE -- A Severn family is asking for help as their son, who is battling a rare liver disorder, continues their desperate search for a liver donor. 

It all started with routine blood work at an annual physical. 

"There's, like, physically nothing wrong with me, so I assumed they're going to be fine, the numbers are going to be fine," Harvir Ghuman said.

The numbers weren't fine. Havir's Ghuman's liver enzyme numbers were high. After several tests, a team of doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital determined he had a rare liver disorder - so rare his father says it does not have a name. 

Doctors told the rising senior at the University of Maryland he needed a liver transplant. 

"I was kind of surprised because I should have noticed by now, right? But there's nothing wrong with me," he said. "So at first I was like how bad is it, you know?"

Havir's parents - who are not a match and unable to donate - are helpless. 

"You want to make sure that your child is okay," Parminder Ghuman, Harvir's father, said. "February 9th, when we found out, it was a shock."

Now the Ghuman family waits. Harvir is on the waiting list for a new liver, but doctors say he needs a transplant sooner rather than later.

"What he has, they're not sure when it could turn to malignant, so they would like to get it done," Parminder said. 

The threat of cancer is very real. 

The Ghumans have gone to family and friends to see if anyone is a match to no avail. Now they are reaching out to people in the community for help as they wait for that life-saving phone call. 

A living donor would need to be a healthy adult between age 18- 60 with no serious health condition and Type-O blood. The family says it would cover any relevant expenses to donating. 

"Your most important phone call of your life, you're waiting for Johns Hopkins to say that we found someone or we have a deceased donor so come on in and have the surgery," Parminder said

"It's very hard for us, for both of us," Sandeep Ghuman, Havir's mother, said. "Every day we are just waiting that we may get a call, but we don't." 

As they wait for that call, the family says all they can do is pray. 

If you would like to find out more about Harvir's fight and how you can help, visit the family's website.