A Mother's Day gift of life: 2 brothers each donate an organ to their mom

CINCINNATI (WKRC) — This Mother’s Day weekend, a local family who nearly lost their mom this past year, shared a story of hope. It’s a story of survival through living organ donation at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Two brothers each gave their mom an organ to help save her life.

On Friday, the family returned to the hospital to thank the transplant team who made it all happen.

The last time the Knott family were all together at the hospital, Lynnette Knott was first in liver transplant surgery and then in kidney transplant surgery.

“On Monday, we did the liver transplant,” said Dr. Cutler Quillin, surgical director for liver transplant at UC Medical Center. “And then on Thursday, we did the kidney transplant.”

It wasn’t a typical operation.

“This is a different way of thinking outside the box a little bit,” said Dr. Madison Cuffy, surgical director for kidney transplant at UC Medical Center.

The doctors said to date, there were only 16 known operations like the one they performed on Lynnette.

“I’m just so glad to still be here,” said Lynnette.

Her son, Mark, gave her a piece of his liver as a living organ donor.

“She had mentioned to us this was an option, and we were like without a doubt, where do we start,” said Mark.

His brother, Matt, followed as a living kidney donor. He said he had a message for his mother during this Mother’s Day weekend.

“That I love you and I’d do it again,” said Matt.

Lynnette was in the hospital for five months, and there were some complications.

“She developed a life-threatening bleed related to an infection around her kidney, and we had to remove the kidney in order to save her life. We flushed it, we preserved it, and we stopped the bleeding, and we put the kidney back in,” said Quillin.

Lynnette missed a few milestones along the way, including a family wedding she watched online. That’s where her two sons showed off their surgical scars.

But this Mother’s Day weekend, the Knott family will be most grateful to hear one word: mom.

“I do think it’s a miracle, and I’m blessed. We're all blessed, oh yes, yes, we are,” said Lynnette.

To be an organ donor, living or deceased, a person can sign up online. Those who become donors should be sure to tell their family of their wishes.