You could be the key to saving a Navan, Ont. man's life as he seeks a living liver donor

A Navan man in need of a liver transplant is appealing to the public and sharing his story in the hopes of finding a match in order to save his life.

61-year-old Rolland Hupé was diagnosed with fatty liver disease and about four years ago, doctors told him he would need a liver transplant in order to live.

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"It's a rollercoaster. He has good days, today is a good day and he has days where he doesn't get out of bed, he's weak and he's not well," said Hupé's wife Anne-Marie.

"They are encouraging us to look for a living donor so he could get a liver before he deteriorates too much, to increase his chances."

But the search has been far from easy. So far, there hasn't been a match.

"We had a lot of people that came forward," said Rolland, holding back tears.

Including his two children and his wife, along with other family members, but no one qualified.

"I went through the process, like months of testing and then four days before the surgery, it was cancelled because the last test they did found something they didn't think matched for him and would make a successful outcome for him," said Hupé. "That was devastating for us."

They expanded their search to social media, but there's been no luck there either, and with Rolland's latest health scare, time is running out.

"He's a young man in my mind, he's 61, and we have many years ahead of us," said Hupé. "We've been married for 37 years this year and it's never enough time."

Hupé's ideal match is someone 5-foot-10 or taller, with the blood type O+ or O- or A+ or A- to donate a portion of their liver at the Toronto General Hospital.

"The beautiful thing about the liver is after removing a portion of the liver it grows back to full size in both the person who donated a portion of their liver as well as the recipient who received that organ in about three months," said Dr. Nazia Selzner, UHN Living Donor Program's medical director.

Not only would a match save Hupé's life but it would bump up another name on the transplant list as well.

"The list of people who need livers or organs at all is so long, we don't know if we have weeks or months," his son Nicolas said.

While both Hupé and his wife are retired, they lived their lives helping others as a teacher and in social services.

Now they're hoping someone may be able to help them and give Hupé a second chance at life.

To find out more about donating visit uhn.ca/transplant. Donors must be between 16 and 60 years old.

If you would like to ask questions anonymously to learn more you can also email [e-mail].