SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A local oncology nurse donated a portion of her liver to save her father after he was diagnosed with liver cancer.
In October 2022, Tom Duncan went to the emergency room for a kidney stone. Tests revealed 13 lesions on his liver.
"The scan found the kidney stone, but it also found lesions all over your liver," Tom, recalling the doctor's report, said.
Just weeks before the diagnosis, Tom was running, lifting, and climbing 14,000-foot peaks with his daughter, Kelly. He went through chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, and liver treatments for years, but the cancer kept returning.
"It’s probably just part of my personality, but I was like, how am I going to beat this?" Tom said.
In 2025, doctors told Tom about the option of a liver transplant. Kelly, an oncology nurse at a Scripps Cancer Clinic in La Jolla, was tested and turned out to be a perfect match for her father.
"It went from something that I deal with at work to something that I was dealing with now at home," Kelly said.
Both underwent surgery at the University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital. Kelly balanced the surgery with major life events in 2025, including getting married and moving.
"We got married, we moved, um, so it just felt like, yes, this wasn't all a waste of my time because I had to go out to the East Coast where the surgery was done, so I did put a lot of time and effort into it," Kelly said.
"Honestly, one day I had the thought of like if this didn't happen, what our lives would look like, and that to me was way more scary than the surgery itself, so it was a pretty easy decision for me," Kelly said.
Today, Tom is cancer-free. The father and daughter are planning to climb another mountain together.
"Without crying, um, just thank you, and I love you," Kelly said.
"And I'm trying to, uh, you know, make this liver go as long as I can make it last so you feel like, um, you know, everything you did was worthwhile," Tom said.
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