Holly Allgood, a teacher at Tupelo Early Childhood Education Center, gives the gift of education to her young students in the classroom. Next Tuesday, she’ll give one of them the gift of life.
Bowen Dorr, 5, is a pre-K student at Allgood’s school in Tupelo. Since just after birth, he has fought a rare genetic metabolic disorder that affects protein synthesis, brain function, and more. A year ago, Dorr’s health started rapidly declining and doctors told him a liver transplant would be required for him to live. Dorr’s parents immediately put the word out that a donor was needed, searching publicly for someone to help save their boy. In the end, they didn’t have to go far.
“It was instant for me,” Allgood told Good Things with Rebecca Turner. “It was a joke with us when we found out he was going through this. I said, ‘Let’s just take mine.’ They said, ‘We don’t know if you’re a match,’ and I said, ‘I’m gonna be a match.’ I just knew I was going to be a match.”
Allgood took some time to consider the donation and discuss what it would entail with her husband. It wasn’t a simple decision. But, for Allgood, it was an easy one. She promptly signed up to be tested as a match as a liver donor for Bowen. After a series of tests at a hospital in Pittsburgh, including blood work back home in Tupelo, Allgood got the call. The word came on an open school night in early August that Bowen and Holly, allowing her and the Dorr family to get the good news of a perfect match when they were all together.
“I think we had all the emotions,” Allgood said of the moment they found out. “Nerves, emotional, exhausted from all the medical things he’s gone through all his life, happy, shocked, overwhelmed – we were all the things.”
Given Bowen’s condition, the process will move quickly. Holly, Bowen, and the Dorr family will leave for Pittsburgh, Pa. on Sunday, with both Holly and Bowen’s surgeries taking place on Tuesday morning.
Through the experience leading up to the procedure, Allgood says she’s been taken aback by the support for her, but especially for Bowen. She went on to encourage those who might have the ability to be a living donor to consider doing so.
“They should pray about it and talk to their family – make sure they have a great support system. Just do it,” Allgood said. “I’ve been amazed. I’m fortunate to know the person I’m donating to. There are people out there who sign up and donate to a complete stranger. There’s so much good in this world. It’s just amazing how I’m walked through this process to see all the good.”
Allgood explained that her surgery is expected to take six hours on Tuesday, while Bowen’s procedure is planned to last approximately 12 hours. She also noted that Bowen loves musical cards, and those interested in showing him support ahead of the surgery can send them to the school.
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