Roy Brown receives liver transplant

[Guest guest]

Roy Brown receives liver transplant

Updated: 5/14/2007 6:20 PM

By: Seth Voorhees

" We think it's a miracle. We

seriously do, " said Billie Jo Kuczynski, Roy

Brown’s sister.

Billie Jo wasn't sure this day would ever come. Her brother was sick and needed a liver transplant. Roy

Brown got his new liver Sunday night at Strong Hospital. " He's

wanting to sit up, trying to stand, he's trying to talk, " said

Wayne Brown, Roy’s brother.

Doctors say liver transplants are among the most

complex operations. Roy Brown's life depended on

it—a life that was already taken from him once. In January, a judge freed Brown from state

prison after serving 15 years for a murder he didn't commit. In

1992, a jury found him guilty of killing a social worker near Auburn. Brown said he didn't do it. " You

know you're innocent. There's no way you can give up. And, that's been his case. He's

been proclaiming innocence all along. No way he's going to give up on it, " Wayne Brown said.

In prison, Roy Brown worked tirelessly to prove that

innocence. That paid off when DNA testing proved

another man was the killer. While incarcerated, Brown

also learned his liver was failing. He tried to get on

a transplant list to no avail. " His

prognosis would have been poor. He was in a rapidly

deteriorating clinical course, " organ transplant surgeon Dr. Adel Bozorgzadeh said.

Doctors at Strong Hospital said without the transplant, there was a

50 percent chance Brown would have died within a year. His

six-hour transplant procedure went well.

" He is off a ventilator, awake, alert, conversive, and he's recovering very well, " Dr. Bozorgzadeh said.

Once he's out of the hospital, Brown still could face

another court battle over the $5 million claim his attorney filed against New York State last week for wrongful imprisonment.

" In reality, if Roy had a different DA and different cops

involved, he never would have went to jail, let alone

spend 15 years, " Kuczynski said. Barring any complications, Roy Brown could go

home in less than two weeks. He wants to strengthen

ties with his children and their children—many of whom he never met until

his release. He also wants to help

others in prison prove their innocence, something he's all too familiar with. " Now, he's going to get on with his life, and I don't

know…we'll take it day by day from here. At

least now we know he has a future, " Kuczynski

said.

Barb in Texas - Together in the

Fight, Whatever it Takes!

Son Ken (33) UC 91 - PSC 99

Listed 7/21 @ Baylor Dallas

[Guest guest]

That was an amazing story. Glad he got out of prison & got a new liver.

Roy Brown receives liver transplantUpdated: 5/14/2007 6:20 PMBy: Seth Voorhees

"We think it's a miracle. We seriously do," said Billie Jo Kuczynski, Roy Brown’s sister.

Billie Jo wasn't sure this day would ever come. Her brother was sick and needed a liver transplant. Roy Brown got his new liver Sunday night at Strong Hospital. "He's wanting to sit up, trying to stand, he's trying to talk," said

Wayne Brown, Roy’s brother.

Doctors say liver transplants are among the most complex operations. Roy Brown's life depended on it—a life that was already taken from him once. In January, a judge freed Brown from state prison after serving 15 years for a murder he didn't commit. In 1992, a jury found him guilty of killing a social worker near Auburn. Brown said he didn't do it. "You know you're innocent. There's no way you can give up. And, that's been his case. He's been proclaiming innocence all along. No way he's going to give up on it," Wayne Brown said.

In prison, Roy Brown worked tirelessly to prove that innocence. That paid off when DNA testing proved another man was the killer. While incarcerated, Brown also learned his liver was failing. He tried to get on a transplant list to no avail. "His prognosis would have been poor. He was in a rapidly deteriorating clinical course," organ transplant surgeon Dr. Adel Bozorgzadeh said.

Doctors at Strong Hospital said without the transplant, there was a 50 percent chance Brown would have died within a year. His six-hour transplant procedure went well.

"He is off a ventilator, awake, alert, conversive, and he's recovering very well," Dr. Bozorgzadeh said.

Once he's out of the hospital, Brown still could face another court battle over the $5 million claim his attorney filed against New York State last week for wrongful imprisonment.

"In reality, if Roy had a different DA and different cops involved, he never would have went to jail, let alone spend 15 years," Kuczynski said. Barring any complications, Roy Brown could go home in less than two weeks. He wants to strengthen ties with his children and their children—many of whom he never met until his release. He also wants to help others in prison prove their innocence, something he's all too familiar with. "Now, he's going to get on with his life, and I don't know…we'll take it day by day from here. At least now we know he has a future," Kuczynski said.

Barb in Texas - Together in the Fight, Whatever it Takes!

Son Ken (33) UC 91 - PSC 99 Listed 7/21 @ Baylor Dallas

PC Magazine’s 2007 editors’ choice for best Web mail—award-winning Windows Live Hotmail.