“I’m Going Out Fighting”: Mary Zaborowski Needs a Living Donor Liver Transplant
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Some teachers grow tired of the job. Over time, the demands, the repetition, and the weight of the work can slowly wear away at the passion they once had for caring for children. The spark fades, and sometimes so does the patience, warmth, and joy.
And then there are teachers who seem as though they were simply made for this work—teachers whose love for children isn’t something they have to force, but something that comes naturally to them.
Mary Zaborowski was one of those teachers. She had a way of making children feel seen, cared for, and valued. For the little faces looking up at her, she was more than a teacher. She was someone they could trust, someone who believed in them, and someone who showed them what it looks like when a person is truly meant to work with children.
Mrs. Zaborowski was my third-grade teacher 15 years ago at St. John the Evangelist School. She didn’t just teach me; she helped shape me. And I know I am far from the only one who can say that. Over 30 years of teaching, she poured that same care, patience, and love into hundreds of children.
That kind of impact is almost impossible to repay. How do you thank someone who helped shape the person you became? How do you give back to someone who gave so much of herself to so many children?
Well, I am going to try.
Mrs. Zaborowski is in need of a living-donor liver transplant. The teacher who spent so many years caring for children needs a little care of her own. When I saw a news clip of Mrs. Zaborowski explaining her circumstances, I asked a friend who was in contact with her to send me her number. When I dialed, I was a little nervous that her memory of my eight-year-old self might have faded.
Silly of me to think so.
She recognized my voice right away. She told me she could picture the big brown eyes belonging to a shy little girl looking up at her. Immediately, it felt like I was talking to an old friend.
I asked her how she was. Her response was exactly what I expected: witty, honest, and somehow still lighthearted.“I’m not in bad shape! Other then, you know, a major organ is failing.”Mrs. Zaborowski explained that she has been battling MASH, or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, a serious form of liver disease. This type of disease is not one that emerges from drinking alcohol or from the lack of taking care of one's body. In fact, she didn't even possess the typical characteristics of someone with the disease. It simply came down to a genetic component within her family. The disease eventually led to liver cancer. Doctors were able to catch and treat the cancer early, but the underlying liver disease remains, and it is only a matter of time before the cancer returns.
“I never thought my life would be like this,” she told me. “I thought once you retire you just go along, but it didn’t quite work out that way.”
After retiring from teaching, Mrs. Zaborowski devoted much of her time to caring for her elderly mother. She began experiencing intermittent pain in her upper abdomen on the right side, which doctors initially attributed to the physical demands of helping her mother in and out of bed.
But Mrs. Zaborowski knew her family history.
Her brothers had liver disease.
“Remember my brothers,” she said.
“You’re not your brothers,” the doctors told her.
With a sigh, she now says, “Well, now I am.”
Since then, liver disease has affected all of her siblings (four, including herself), taking the lives of two of them. Mrs. Zaborowski has tried clinical trials and medications. She even came close to having a living donor, only to learn that the donor ultimately was not a compatible match. Because of the family history with this disease, even her son who was willing to be her donor was told he would not be a good match.
Still, she kept looking.
She made her own flyers and posted them on bulletin boards around town, hoping that somewhere, somehow, they might catch the eye of the person who could help save her life. She has exhausted the resources she knows to exhaust.
But I haven’t.
Neither have the hundreds of children whose lives she touched. Neither have the families who remember her. Neither have the people who know what it means to have a teacher who made you feel seen.
I know this is a big ask. Mrs. Zaborowski made that very clear to me. But it is also possible.
There may be someone out there who is healthy, willing, and able to give Mrs. Zaborowski the chance for more time—more time with her children, more time with her grandchildren, more time to laugh, to tell stories, and to simply live the life she never expected to have to fight this hard for.
The liver is remarkable in that a portion can be donated by a living person and then regenerate within 6-8 weeks in both the donor and recipient. Living-donor liver transplantation gives people like Mrs. Zaborowski another path when waiting for a deceased-donor organ may not provide enough time. Now, it’s easier to be a donor than it has ever been before. As of 2023, the surgery to extract a portion of the liver—using about five keyhole incisions and an incision the size of a bikini cut—is performed robotically at NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia, and Weill Cornell Medicine.
“It’s hard losing siblings, and I’m fighting, and I’m going to fight for as long as I can. I’m hoping someone out there is willing to help. It’s a big ask. You’re not asking someone for a small favor.”
Then she said something that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.
“We all have to die sometime, but I will give all I have to live. I’m going out fighting.” That is Mrs. Zaborowski. The woman who spent 30 years showing up for children is still showing up—for herself, for her family, and for the life she still wants to live.
Fifteen years ago, I was one of those little faces looking up at her. Today, I’m hoping we can help her look up and see just how many people are looking back. If you are willing to learn more about becoming a living liver donor for Mrs. Zaborowski, please consider reaching out. Even if you cannot donate yourself, sharing her story could put it in front of the person who can.
The best thing to do is to call The Donor Champion Program at 212-305-0912.
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Click here if you are considering becoming a live liver donor:
❤️🙏🏼Keeping Mary in my thoughts and prayers.