A 24-year-old Overland Park man is racing to find a living liver donor, and his family spent Sunday turning a pickleball court into a rallying point. Warren Whitty was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis at age 13, a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the bile ducts and causes irreversible liver damage. Nearly 100 participants across 36 teams showed up to play, raise money, and spread the word that Warren needs help.
The tournament, held Sunday, paired Warren's family with Chicken N Pickle in Overland Park. The event also helped raise money and educate attendees about living liver donation, the station reported. Organizers say Warren's liver-test score has not placed him high enough on the deceased-donor transplant list, meaning a living donor offers his best shot, according to KMBC.
Warren is searching for a donor with either O-negative or O-positive blood type, per the same report. Event co-organizer Jennifer Janssen described Warren as “a remarkable young man” and said the tournament was meant to support the family and help them however the community could. She added that spreading awareness could be as simple as connecting Warren with someone willing to be tested as a potential donor.
A Mother Watches Her Son Lose Energy
Patty Whitty, Warren's mother, said her son has experienced worsening health in recent months, a decline she described to reporters. She said Warren now lacks the energy to go out and play sports, a stark shift for a young man whose family has spent the weekend organizing a tournament in his name.
The event's structure reflected that priority. Rather than chasing a specific dollar figure, organizers focused on raising awareness rather than setting a fundraising target, choosing instead to widen the pool of people who might learn they could be a match.
What It Takes to Be a Living Liver Donor
Medical guidance posted by UCSF Health states that a living liver donor does not need to be related to the recipient at all. Blood type matters more than family ties — donors must share the recipient's blood type or have type O, and Rh-positive or Rh-negative status does not affect eligibility, according to UCSF Health.
Age guidelines vary by source. UCSF Health states that donors generally should be between 18 and 60 years old, while Warren's own donor-information page lists a range of 18 to 55. The site, Warren's Living Liver, also emphasizes that donating is entirely voluntary and that anyone who begins the testing process can stop at any time, with no obligation to follow through.
Dr. Nizar Talaat, an associate professor of medicine and director of the Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at the University of Kansas Health System, is among the medical professionals listed in connection with the university's transplant program, according to the University of Kansas Medical Center. Federal guidance notes that living donation can shorten a recipient's wait and that research has shown better outcomes for those who receive organs from living donors compared with deceased donors, per organdonor.gov.
For now, the Whitty family's hope rests on exactly the kind of grassroots effort that filled the courts at Chicken N Pickle — one more person hearing Warren's story and deciding to get tested. Whether that person showed up Saturday or sees his story later, Janssen's message was simple: someone out there could be the match Warren needs.
