Devin Cooper (left) donated 80 per cent of his liver to his father Perry (right). The father and son both underwent successful surgeries at University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton on Feb. 18. (Photo: Devin Cooper)

By Sheldon Spackman

Saving A Life

Innisfail musician donates part of his liver to save dad’s life

Mar 13, 2020 | 10:57 AM

A musician from Innisfail is encouraging organ donation after giving 80 per cent of his liver to help save his father from cancer.

Devin Cooper, 23, went under the knife at University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton on Feb. 18 to give the majority of his liver to his dad, Perry, who is 56.

Both are now recovering following successful procedures.

Cooper says surgeons completely removed his father’s liver, as he was previously diagnosed with liver cancer.

“There’s not near enough people that have signed their donor cards for the amount of transplants that are needed,” says Cooper. “That doesn’t require you to be a live donor, that could be when you’re elderly and pass. If your organs are able to be used to save someone’s life, something as simple as signing your donor card could change someone’s life. It could change a whole family.”

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Cooper notes his father had been battling cancer for the past couple of years, but Devin himself didn’t find out about his father’s condition until May of last year.

“He was stable, but the cancer was continuing to grow,” recalls Cooper. “He was doing everything possible to keep himself healthy outside of the cancer. I’m very thankful the cancer was contained to just inside his liver and hadn’t spread anywhere.”

Prior to being accepted as a live donor, Cooper says his father was able to get onto the transplant list, but it turned into a waiting game until a cadaver liver became available, or even a live donor.

“The day they told me he was diagnosed with liver cancer, I said it in my mind at that point, I didn’t know if it was possible to be a live donor, but I mean they had done kidney transplants and lung transplants and things like that,” says Cooper. “So I started doing some research online and found out that live donor transplants were something that happened, and there was a possibility that I could be a candidate for it. So basically the day I found out, I decided that I would put myself up to be a live donor for him.”

Cooper points out that finding a live donor is difficult to do.

“There’s a lot of requirements that have to be met in order for someone to be eligible to be a live donor,” he explains. “One thing that helped is I’m 50 per cent of my dad’s DNA, so going into it, the probability of my liver being compatible with his body was significantly higher than if it was not a family member.”

Three weeks following the transplant, Cooper says his dad is doing well.

“All the tests are coming back very positive,” says Cooper. “His body has been very receptive to the liver. He’s getting better every single day, but it’ll be a road to recovery to build up strength and get back to 100 per cent.”

What’s left of Devin’s liver will eventually grow back to its previous normal size.

He says the experience has brought he and his father even closer together than they already were.

Cooper, who is now preparing to return to the stage and recording studio this year, admits he can’t imagine life without his father.

“For me, there was no option to not have him here. It was something I couldn’t let happen. I can’t imagine what that would be like at this point in my life. We’re all just very grateful that we can look forward into the future and look forward to doing a lot more things together and enjoying the time we have.”