Dan Haverty says it was simply an act of faith when he wrote to Bishop William K. Weigand in January 2004, after he read in the Sacramento Bee that the bishop might need a living donor for a liver transplant.

“I didn’t know how sick the bishop was or what being a donor was all about,” said Haverty, 50, a member of Holy Trinity Parish in El Dorado Hills. “I can’t explain it fully, but I felt God was calling me to do this.”

Fourteen months later, the man who donated part of his liver to give the bishop a second chance at life believes it would not have been possible without his strong Catholic faith and the support of his loving family.

At a press conference with Bishop Weigand on March 28, Haverty, an assistant chief for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, said he and his wife of 31 years, Terri, were “at peace” about his decision to undertake the risky surgery to help the bishop regain his health.

“I look at this as a tremendous opportunity and one that’s spiritually led,” he said. “It’s a gift, one that we are allowed to give, and we look at it as a way to help others. It’s not too far removed from what my fellow firefighters do every day when they take risks to help people survive.”

On April 1, doctors at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center removed more than two-thirds of Haverty’s healthy liver during transplant surgery and immediately placed it into the bishop. Doctors then reconnected blood vessels and bile ducts. The liver will now regenerate in both men, growing back to almost normal function in four to six weeks.

The transplant was needed because Bishop Weigand, 67, suffers from primary sclerosing cholangitis, an uncommon progressive liver disease that causes scarring near the liver that affects the organ’s function. The disease cause bile to accumulate in the liver and can result in damage to liver cells and possible liver failure. The bishop has lived with the disease for the past 24 years.

Since October, the bishop’s health has deteriorated and he has been hospitalized several times. In November, his doctors told him he should have a liver transplant within three to four months.

Haverty learned this news in a letter from diocesan officials, as one of about 15 people who had come forward during the past year to express an interest in donating a portion of their liver to the bishop. Potential living donors had to be healthy, have type O blood, and the same body size as the bishop.

Five priests also offered to be donors, but they were excluded from consideration by transplant officials because there could be a perception the bishop placed undue influence on them.

In addition to the transplant requirements, Bishop Weigand had some of his own criteria. Because of complications involved in a liver transplant, he ruled out any potential donors who had small children or others who depended on them financially. He also wanted the donor to have adequate health insurance and job security for the recovery process following the surgery.

In the months after he sent his letter, Haverty, who has three adult children and two grandchildren, discussed the possible transplant with his family.

Terri Haverty, who is a third-grade teacher and is taking a leave of absence from her job to care for her husband during his recovery, said she was surprised when her husband first wrote to the bishop.

“But as we thought about it and discussed it over time, I developed a great level of peace and comfort,” she said. “It’s an honor to be a part of this. It’s the greatest act of generosity. Am I nervous? Absolutely, as are my children. But this is a God-given grace. There’s no other way this would happen unless it was part of God’s plan.”

During January, Haverty underwent an extensive series of medical and psychological screening tests over five days at the university medical center before he was cleared to be the bishop’s living donor.

In early March, the Havertys met Bishop Weigand for the first time over dinner, joined by Dan’s mother, his daughter, and his pastor, Msgr. James Kidder.

Msgr. Kidder, who has known Haverty since the founding of Holy Trinity Parish in the early 1990s, said he is a thoughtful and spiritual man.

“When he decided to take this risk, it was part of a pattern that Dan has known as a firefighter — that there might be a day when his own life could be taken,” Msgr. Kidder said. “There’s been a peace and calmness about his offer to be a donor, but it fits the whole pattern of his life.”

In recent weeks, the bishop and Haverty have gotten to know each other better.

“We’ve discovered the bishop is a warm, caring person, who wanted the best for Terri and I and our family. He wanted to make sure I knew the risks of this surgery,” Haverty said.

“I admire him, I respect him as my bishop, and I’m now calling him my friend,” he added. “The reality is that the bishop needs help. He’s a prayerful man, who’s dedicated more than 40 years of his life to the Lord and helping others, and this is my chance to do my part to get him healthy again.”

Deeply touched by Haverty’s sacrifice, Bishop Weigand spoke to him with emotion at the March 28 press briefing. “I will be forever eternally indebted to you for your generosity, your selflessness, for giving me a new lease on life.”

“It’s the most unusual Easter in my whole life,” the bishop said. “God has given the Havertys a great capacity for generosity…I am deeply grateful to them and incredibly moved by their coming forward and their willingness to do something so outstanding as this for me.”

During Holy Week, the bishop washed Haverty’s feet during the traditional ceremony at Holy Thursday Mass, held this year at Westminister Presbyterian Church in Sacramento. He blessed Dan and Terri, asking the congregation to pray for them. “Because of your amazing generosity,” he said, “you have given me a new chance at life.”

Liver transplants using a living donor are not common, according to information compiled by the United Network for Organ Sharing. Of the 6,167 liver transplants in the United States in 2004, only 323 were from living donors.

Dr. John Roberts, chief of liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center, said a living donor has a 30 percent chance of complications.

Roberts, who directed the bishop’s operation, said a liver transplant is six times riskier for the donor than a kidney transplant. “The donor in this operation is at an increased risk of death because we are taking part of an organ, which is often more difficult than taking the whole organ,” he said.

Haverty was expected to spend about six days in the hospital, while Bishop Weigand was expected to be hospitalized about 10 days, Roberts said. Without complications, full recovery for both men could take several months.

Even with knowledge of the level of risk in the transplant surgery, Haverty is not concerned.

“Terri and I know that there’s a 70 percent chance that nothing will happen to me at all,” he said.

The main reason he’s given many media interviews and is speaking publicly about his donation is to encourage other people to donate their organs or to consider being a living donor.

“These opportunities are in all of our lives every day,” he said. “That’s the larger message.”

His faith will continue to be the source of his strength.

“It would be difficult for someone without faith, without a spiritual connection, to go through with this,” Haverty said. “I have great trust in the medical team, but a greater trust in the Lord and that this is a planned event in my life, being done for a reason. I don’t know what all the reasons are yet, but it’s clear to me it’s part of a bigger plan.”

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