Dad saves life of his daughter’s friend by donating liver

[Gianna-Lynn Favilla and Ken Budel are seen in this combination picture before going into surgery / Facebook]

When Ontario man Ken Budel decided to donate his liver to eight-year-old Gianna-Lynn Favilla, it was the easiest decision he ever made.

But Favilla wasn’t just any girl — she was the friend of his eight-year-old daughter Lily.

“Was I nervous?” Budel told The Ottawa Citizen. “Yes, but at no point did I think I was putting myself into significant danger. I was extremely confident.”

Favilla, who suffers from Crohn’s disease, had a condition that caused her ducts to be inflamed and caused damage to her liver. The damage was so bad, the girl was put on a donor list.

So her family made a public plea in search of a live donor.

“There was no discussion,” Budel said. “My wife said she would have done it as well. There was an unspoken understanding that when the plea went out, the forms were going to go in.”

He was a match.

So on April 20, 41-year-old Budel made the trip from Russell, Ont., to the Toronto General Hospital and went under the knife to remove 20 per cent of his liver for Favilla.

The organ was then rushed to the Hospital for Sick Children and transplanted into Favilla.

Just days after the surgery, Budel — who was still recovering — made his way across the street to where Favilla and her family were to see how his daughter’s friend was doing.

Four days after his operation, Budel went home.

“You start the first half of your life selfish,” Budel said. “I am entering the second half of my life; it is an opportunity to be more selfless and compassionate. The scar will be a remding for me.”

And even though the two families knew each other before the transplant, Budel says their relationship has changed and that the two families now have a “different kind of connection that will probably last forever.”

Favilla is still recovering in the hospital in Toronto.