Patient’s liver donation inspires others to consider giving the gift of life

May 22 2:00pm | Kristin Eggebraaten | @keggebraaten

When Stacia Carroll learned that her family's pediatrician needed a liver transplant, she did not hesitate to explore whether she could help.

What began as a directed donation for someone she knew eventually became a nondirected liver donation that saved the life of a stranger — and reshaped Stacia’s understanding of service, purpose and connection.

This past weekend, Stacia marked several milestones during the 2026 Med City Marathon in Rochester, Minnesota: her 50th birthday, the marathon’s 30th anniversary and the third anniversary of her liver donation on May 17, 2023.

For Stacia, the race is also a celebration of what living donation can make possible. And what better way to end the race than by meeting the recipient of her donation, Pati Wyllie, moments after crossing the finish line.

"I never knew that living donation was even a possibility,” Stacia says. “I really had never explored that before."

Stacia first learned about living liver donation in May 2022 after seeing social media posts about her family's pediatrician, who had cholangiocarcinoma and needed a liver transplant. Motivated to help, she began the donor evaluation process at Mayo Clinic later that year.

Before the transplant could occur, her family’s pediatrician died unexpectedly.

"At that time, I was asked if even though I was intending to be a directed donor, would I consider being a nondirected donor?" Stacia says. "Even though he wasn’t the one that was able to receive the liver, he would have wanted it to go to someone else. There still was a great need."

"There are about 10,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a lifesaving liver transplant, and we simply do not have enough deceased donor livers to meet that need. Living donation helps narrow the gap. It not only benefits the recipient, but also benefits others by taking one person off the list," says Timucin Taner, M.D., one of Stacia's Mayo Clinic transplant surgeons.

Stacia says the experience reinforced her belief in helping others in whatever ways people can.

"'Live2Give' is my life philosophy," she says. "I really strive to do this in big and small ways. There’s so much suffering going on in the world in a lot of ways. I think everyone has the capability of doing something uniquely personal to them that can ease the burdens of others."

Healthy and active, Stacia describes herself as service-oriented and says she felt supported throughout the process by her faith, family and friends. Before pursuing liver donation, she had already registered with Be The Match as a potential bone marrow donor.

"It was incredibly fulfilling to be able to help somebody and give the gift of life, "Stacia says.

One meaningful reminder of that experience came during a pre-surgery visit in April 2023. While visiting a gift shop, Stacia purchased The Little Book of Mayo Clinic Values.

"This book has really been such an anchor piece because I'm a very mission, vision, values kind of person and a very intentional individual when it comes to what I choose to do in life," she says.

She began asking people involved in her care to sign the book. Today, it contains about 200 signatures from surgeons and nurses to baristas and ministers. She's also gifted the book to many friends, family and community members.

Although Stacia understands that living donation is not the right choice for everyone, she hopes sharing her experience encourages more people to consider organ donation in some form.

"I’m not expecting by sharing my story that everyone is going to feel called to be a living organ donor," Stacia says. "But I hope that everyone registers to be an organ donor."

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