A 69-year-old Peruvian American philanthropist with cirrhosis has recovered after receiving a liver transplant from his daughter in Seoul, giving him a chance to resume his charity work in his native Peru.
Asan Medical Center said Wednesday that Marco Antonio Quiroz underwent the transplant on Aug. 14, receiving part of the liver of his 30-year-old daughter, Kimberly Lucia Quiroz.
As his condition worsened, a transplant became his only remaining treatment option, according to the hospital. But he was deemed too old for a transplant in Peru, while in the United States, he faced a wait of more than a year for a liver from a deceased donor.
Quiroz turned to Asan Medical Center after learning about living-donor liver transplants, in which a healthy person donates part of their liver. He traveled to Seoul with his family in May for an initial consultation.
Professor Song Gi-Won of the hospital’s Division of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery performed the donor surgery, while professors Lee Sung-gyu and Moon Deok-bog performed the transplant.
Quiroz said his recovery had strengthened his resolve to continue his charity work.
“There are still many people living in poverty in Peru,” he said. “I still have much more to do.”
junheee@heraldcorp.com
