Woman receives groundbreaking liver transplant

YUKON, Okla. ( KFOR ) — A woman in Yukon made medical history at OU Health as she was the first in the state to receive a liver transplant for a rare and often deadly cancer. It all started in 2022 when Kelly Darden developed jaundice.

Darden said after going to a local clinic to get checked out, she was then driven to a hospital in an ambulance.

“That was February 1st. The next day I found out I had cancer,” said Darden.

Darden was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma which is a rare form of bile duct cancer that affects the liver and doctors say the life expectancy is low.

“It’s one of the more rare cancers in the United States, probably less than 2% of all cancers,” said Dr. Ajay Jain, the Chief of Surgical Oncology at OU Health .

From there, Darden began chemotherapy, but the gift of life seemed far away.

“They can’t treat it if it’s too far gone, which was my case, my whole liver bile duct was engulfed in the cancer and they knew I didn’t have long to live,” said Darden.

Eventually, she was put on the transplant list, but had to wait at least six months to hear the life-saving call earlier this year.

“So I kissed my husband. I didn’t know if that was the last kiss or not. Thank God it wasn’t,” said Darden.

Previously, patients had to travel out of state for this type of transplant.

Now, it’s possible at OU Health.

“We had been working for months to build the infrastructure, the protocols to offer this, and we decided to do to give the green light,” said Dr. Jain.

“I’m the lucky one for sure,” said Darden.

Darden said a 21-year-old girl from Louisiana gave her a second chance at life.

“I can’t thank her parents enough for her,” said Darden.

She hopes that one day she can thank them in person.

“Nothing short of a miracle, really. I mean, if their daughter wasn’t on the list; and it turns out she was,” said Darden.

Darden told News 4 she’s in remission as doctors continue to check on her during recovery.

Next year, she has plans to renew her wedding vows with her husband in Vegas where they got married 25 years ago.

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