Irving Man Dedicates Half Marathon To His Liver Donor

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A man, who survived a liver transplant a few months ago, ran and completed the Cowtown Half Marathon in Fort Worth Sunday.

Mike Barker of Irving underwent surgery last summer. Even though it had only been seven months, he and his wife Fatima decided to run all 13.1 miles and dedicate the race to the liver donor-- a teenager who passed away.

"In a moment of probably their greatest grief in life of losing a teenager, they made the decision to save the lives of people they didn't know and show care and such a wonderful heart for other people," said Barker.

This marked Barker's sixth straight Cowtown Half Marathon.

"I can't tell you the emotions that hit me when I crossed the finish line," said Barker. "To know that I was able to do another race that I love to do, do it with the love of my life, my wife, and us continue our journey together, it meant everything to me."

Barker said he was able to recover so quickly from the transplant because he's run other marathons before.