SAN DIEGO — Anh Nguyen, 52, donated a portion of her liver to 4-year-old Ailani Troncoso at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. This marks Nguyen's second organ donation, as she previously donated a kidney in 2019.

Ailani Troncoso was born with Alagille syndrome, a genetic disorder affecting the liver. Her condition resulted in jaundice, difficulties gaining weight, and itching, which led to her requiring a feeding tube. Doctors at Rady Children's Hospital determined a liver transplant was necessary for her.

Amanda Troncoso, Ailani's mother, stated her daughter "She was just like a shell of herself. And she just wasn't living." She also described the itching as the most discomforting symptom for her daughter. "There was nothing that you could do to help her. It was very emotional. It was very hard," Troncoso said.

Nguyen reflected on her decision to donate again. "It just, again, stuck in the back of my mind, like, here's someone else that needs help, you know? Is it possible that maybe I could do this again?" Nguyen said. She explained her motivation, saying, "I just understand what it feels like not to feel well ... and to desperately hope that someone or something could help you, you know, and that's why I decided to step forward." Nguyen also sustained a traumatic brain injury 15 years ago and experienced daily migraines for 10 years following her injury.

After the donation, Amanda Troncoso sent a letter to Nguyen to express her gratitude. "I just wanted to thank her for everything that she had done, and I hoped that one day that we would meet," Troncoso said. Nguyen described receiving the letter, stating, "Amanda wrote this amazing, beautiful, you know, heartwarming letter, and it just touched me. I mean, I cried reading it."

Care teams from Rady Children's Hospital and UC San Diego Health later attended a ceremony where Ailani Troncoso rang a bell. Nguyen expressed her hope, "My deepest wish is that more people out there can have someone that can step forward to help them."