Faces of the Games
CANDY MARIE PAGEL, 33
St. Paul, Minnesota
When Candy was in her mid 20s, she underwent two surgeries to remove cancerous tumors from her liver. After the second surgery, doctors told Candy that she would need a liver transplant in order to survive, since there was a strong chance that the cancer would recur. The long wait required for a deceased liver donor as well as the threat of the cancer returning propelled Candy and her family to consider the possibility of a live donor transplant, a surgery that had yet to be performed successfully in the state of Minnesota.
After months of tests and waiting for results, it appeared that her sister Lori McEvoy was a good match. On March 28, 2000 Candy and Lori made Minnesota history when they became the first successful adult-to-adult living donor liver transplant. Four years later, Candy's life has unfolded in ways she might not have believed were possible prior to surgery. She received her Master's degree and gave birth to a daughter two years later. Today she is a counselor for the St. Paul public schools and is planning to go fore the gold in track and field at the National Kidney Foundation 2006 U.S. Transplant Games.
