The Professionals S2017E14 - Fighting for Families' Futures

Mureo Kasahara, Transplant Surgeon For children whose lives are threatened by serious liver illnesses, there is one final hope. It's a living-donor liver transplant, in which part of a liver donated by a parent or another close relative is transplanted into a child. 51-year-old transplant surgeon Mureo Kasahara performs more of these operations per year than any other surgeon in the world, and the 10-year survival rate for his patients is more than 90%. Kasahara thoroughly studied ways to cut small, thin sections of liver tissue, and developed a groundbreaking surgical method for difficult cases involving children weighing 5 kilograms or less. His life-saving technique has drawn international attention. Kasahara views living-donor liver transplants as "the gift of life", and says they embody the parents' deep desire to help their child. He braces himself for difficult surgeries, and exhausts every possibility as he fights for the futures of children and their families. Just doing something isn't enough. As Kasahara says, "You have to follow through, no matter what".