San Carlos Principal Receives Liver Transplant

A San Carlos principal who was diagnosed with only six months to live because of a rare autoimmune liver disease received a liver on Thursday, and is now recovering in a Cleveland hospital.

The news is thrilling not only to Chris Mahoney, who is the principal at the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, but to his wife, Michelle, and their 3-year-old son, Emerson.

NBC Bay Area had profiled Mahoney's plight in September, when he was fighting for his life and still working at his school.

"It’s one of the few places that I’ve ever worked at where I am actually happier at the end of the day than I am at the beginning. Every day just feels so satisfying," Mahoney said at the time. "I love my wife and my son and I just want to be there for them for the next 40 years and I can’t even think about the alternative so I don’t."

Mahoney was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis in 2003.  PSC is a rare autoimmune related liver disease where the body’s defenses attack and destroy the liver. 

His friends, family and the entire San Carlos Charter Learning Center community had been trying tirelessly to spread the word in hopes a donor can be found. Now, they're trying to raise money to help pay for his medical bills. If you can help, please email SaveChrisM@gmail.com or click on www.chrisneedsaliver.com.

NBC Bay Area's Marla Tellez, Lori Preuitt and Kim Tere contributed to this report.

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