Mother's liver donation to son saves her life

LAKE MILLS, Wis. -- A Lake Mills mom's sacrifice for her son actually saved her life.

The Evensen family always knew 4-year-old Auden would need a new liver.

"We just didn't know when, or how long he would have," said Auden's mom Kerri Evensen.

There was a match for Auden, but when the cadaver liver got to the hospital, it was too late. The liver was too old.

That's when Kerri stepped up without a second thought. Call it a mother's intuition. It was a long road to get her approved as Auden's donor. Through the process, they found a problem.

While they did a MRI scan they found that she had a renal artery aneurysm, so Kerri had surgery that week, and was back to normal. Her sacrifice for Auden saved her life.

"I know I would never had done any other test to find this aneurysm in time," she said. "So he absolutely 100 percent saved my life, by checking to save his life."

Now the Evensens are moving forward and they're ready to see Auden healthy. It'll be a long recovery process for Auden and Kerri. But if you ask her, this is just a natural expression of a mother's love.

Since Auden's donor is his mother, that means another child can receive a liver that wasn't needed by Auden.