April is Donate Life Month, and Pittsburgh has been called the "transplantation capital of the world" because of the pioneering work of Dr. Thomas Starzl.

One of the most successful types of transplants are when living donors give their own organs — either a kidney or part of their liver.

Eileen Stanford was a nurse at a dialysis center when she donated one of her kidneys to her husband, Don, 21 years ago. He was on dialysis after his kidneys started failing from diabetes. Their kids were in elementary and high school when their parents underwent the surgery.

"It became very emotional for me," Stanford said. "I thought, you know what, that really, truly is a gift of life. It affected our family. So [my husband] was able to do more things with all of us. It wasn't just me giving this to him but giving life back to our whole family."

Stanford says she was out of the hospital in a couple days and back to work in a month, and her husband is doing extremely well decades later.

"People can live active, healthy lives with one functioning kidney, and once a liver donor's liver completely regenerates, a liver donor can go back to their normal life," Erin McMahon, the director of the Living Donor Program at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, says. "So there's no increased long-term risk for liver disease from donating a portion of your liver." 

Organs from living donors are preferable because they are healthier and last longer than those from deceased donors. If you're interested in becoming a living donor, you can learn more here.