By: Allison Flexner, Development Communications Manager

Dennis Connelly remembers the day his life started to slip away. Twenty-two years ago, not feeling well, he came home from work early, which was an unusual thing for him. His daughter, Taryn, then in 4^th grade, found him unconscious in the bathroom, hemorrhaging. This terrifying moment was just the beginning of his seven-year journey to getting a liver transplant, one that would ultimately depend on the generosity of blood and organ donors. Today, Connelly has one thing to say to those donors, “thank you.”

He received blood and plasma transfusions for several years as his health declined and his liver inched closer to failure. The transplant surgery required even more transfusions. Connelly estimates he received at least 100 units of blood products prior to and then during the transplant.

Ever since, he’s been trying to give back and help wherever he can.

“It’s such a blessing. I’ve seen my daughter grow up, graduate high school and then graduate nursing school at Emory.” She is now a travel nurse in Washington State, beginning her doctorate program.

He considers himself very fortunate to have a close-knit, resilient and supportive family, although it’s been tough on them. He was living in what he called a ‘diminished state’ as they became caretakers, adjusting to his daily routine, medications and bouts of ammonia buildup in his bloodstream that left him confused and disoriented. “With liver failure, it doesn’t clean your blood well and that affects your brain, so you don’t know who you are, you don’t know where you are or who anybody is.”

His illness took a toll not just on him, it had a significant impact on his family and drained resources. He describes his wife Shirley and his daughter Taryn, “as stubborn as I am.” Shirley balanced caregiving with working. “She was just a trooper. I don’t know how she did it all those years, but that kind of illness impacts everything.” Taryn grew up with her father in precarious health, yet excelled in school, graduating from the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, a top high school in the nation.

Through it all, Connelly is, and has been, a plumbing engineer with the same company, Newcomb & Boyd, for 40 years. He loves seeing a plan for a new building, figuring out how to solve its problems and then watching it go up. “I’m a nerdy guy,” he says. He was part of the team that designed and built the wing of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta where he stayed when he was transplanted. “I’ve been working out there for decades, I’ve got a lot of successes, I’ve solved a lot of problems, dug a lot of holes and it’s been a real adventure.” He never thought he would be undergoing treatment there one day.

Connelly was second on the liver transplant list once certain criteria were met and an organ was available. He was admitted to the hospital, prepped and waiting, yet someone else received that liver and his family went home while Connelly stayed. Soon after, another liver from a generous donor came in, his family was called back and he underwent the transplant operation. He considers himself very fortunate.

As a transplant recipient, Connelly was able to send a letter to his donor’s family. He said to them, “I recognize it is a terrible time for you to have lost one of your own, yet I hoped they could be comforted by their loss, allowing me and my family to carry on. There’s really not much more I can say other than thank you, thank you, thank you, so I carry that in my heart always.”

Connelly is equally passionate about blood donations as he is about organ transplants. “When you die, you can’t take anything with you. And yet, you can still give so much to help so many.”

He knows there is no way he can repay the gift, especially not in kind. “I can do everything I can to reach out and help humanity in ways that I can.”

He volunteers at his church, at work, with Emory University Hospital. Connelly does a hunger walk, amazed at how many people can’t even afford to eat these days. He also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, helping build homes. He speaks at transplant clinics, telling his story to encourage others. He is unable to donate blood yet is a generous financial donor to the American Red Cross. “It’s an amazing organization that serves so many. I think the world of what y’all do and have a definite soft spot for it in my heart.”

He remains dedicated to his work as a plumbing engineer. “We do buildings that make a difference in people’s lives between medical and research facilities. The world needs engineered solutions. I find it inspirational.” He was on the team that designed the original Emory Winship Cancer Institute.

His new life includes adventures and travels from the Caribbean to his ancestral homeland, Ireland. He enjoys snow skiing, fishing, running the Peachtree Road Race with Taryn, visiting her in the Pacific Northwest and supporting the Atlanta Braves.

Connelly says, “Every day is an adventure when you’ve been given a gift of staying alive. It’s a lot of work, but compared to the alternative, it’s got to make you smile. I look at the positive and look for that sunshine. I’ve been given such a gift that I can’t keep it to myself. I have to share.”

The need for blood donations is constant. Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. Make an appointment to give now by visiting https://www.redcrossblood.org/, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App.

For more on the Emory Healthcare Liver Transplant Program visit: https://www.emoryhealthcare.org/centers-programs/liver-transplant-program. The Emory Liver Transplant Program is known and respected nationwide. Their experts include liver transplant surgeons, transplant hepatologists, gastroenterologists, anesthesiologists, pathologists, radiologists, and nurses. Their mission is to provide patients with the unsurpassed, comprehensive care they deserve.