Published: October 06, 2008 10:12 pm      

Local man needs liver transplant

Known to many in the community as Bebe, 45-year-old Luther Bennett of Beckley was devastated when he found out he needed a liver transplant to save his life.

He is scheduled to visit the Charles O. Strickler Transplant Center at the University of Virginia Oct. 16 to see if he is eligible to receive a new liver.

Although his family has been told Medicaid will likely cover a majority of his medical expenses, they are trying to raise money for transportation, food and lodging. His fiancee, Kathy Wiggins, is asking members of the community to make donations.

“Luther would give you the shirt off of his back if you needed it,” Wiggins said. The two are hoping to get married if and when they are able to put this medical misfortune behind them.

Prior to becoming ill, Luther was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and hunting. Kathy is praying “people will reach out and help us.”

An average of 56 people receive an organ transplant daily in the United States. In 2007, 23,000 individuals were given new life thanks to a life-saving organ transplant.

Tim Schmitt, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Virginia where Luther is scheduled to visit, isaid his center falls somewhere in the top 10 percent of patients treated for a liver transplant in the U.S.

Schmitt’s center completes an average of 80 liver transplants per year and he said he sees “less than 5 percent of patients face death on the waiting list for a transplant.” Although 16,670 patients are now registered on the U.S. waiting list for a liver transplant, Schmitt says the system works fairly well and he finds it “very uncommon for a patient with a low MELD score to die waiting.”

Each patient at his center goes through an extensive process in which they are assigned a MELD score. Developed by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, MELD includes the stability and decompensation of the organ, and determines how fast a patient will be eligible for a transplant.

To make a donation to Bennett, send a check made out to the Benefit of Luther Bennett, c/o City National Bank, 1 Park Ave., Beckley, WV 25801. For more information, call City National Bank at 304-255-6382.

For more information on organ transplants, how to become a donor and national statistics, visit the United Network for Organ Sharing Web site at www.unos.org.

— E-mail: jayres@register-herald.com