Teen Has New Lease On Life 1 Year After Liver Transplant

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – With a new 6-week-old puppy named Bear, you know this Christmas will be one loaded with cheer and laughter for 15-year-old Adam Snow, his brother Michael and the rest of the Snow family.

But it's Adam who really makes this Christmas extra special.

"I think about it every day," said Adam's mother, Linda. "It's a constant reminder when I get up and look at him. It's a miracle and I thank God."

"Waking up every day, taking a shower, looking at my stomach and seeing the scar, it's like, what happened?" says Adam.

It was 13 months ago when Adam was diagnosed with acute liver failure. He was given just hours to live, unless a new liver donor was located. He was moved to the top of the liver donor list.

"We desperately need a new liver and we need it fast," his parents said in November last year, when they were featured in a news story.

Things started looking up after Adam's parents went on television pleading on his behalf.

At the same time, other family members went on Facebook and Twitter.

The rest, as they say, is history.

"We didn't want to give up," Linda Snow said. "There was just little hope at that point. But fortunately, the doctors were good, a donor family was there for us."

Adam is a student at Butler Intermediate High School. Just days before he was rushed to Children's Hospital, he attended football practice and his family and doctors were stunned by how rapidly his health deteriorated because of the liver failure.

"I'd say I'm pretty much back to normal," Adam said. "There's not a lot I can't do. I eat the same, I move the same."

These days, Adam is back on track. He's monitored by his doctors monthly, but he's pretty much leading a normal life, doing what he loves most: hunting and fishing.

"I really would like to be a professional fisherman," Adam says. "But I guess I'll see where the road goes.

Adam and his family went to Alaska this past summer. The trip was made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"I think I look at life different," Adam said. "Work doesn't seem as important, my family and my friends are more important."

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