Utah man starts new life after getting transplant in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — In an update to a story we first brought you back in November, a young Utah couple who moved across the country for a shot at life is now going home.

After waiting eight years for a liver transplant in Utah, it took Forrest Purser just one day to find a match here.

After eight months in the Hoosier state, Forrest and Annalisa Purser are headed back to Utah with a new life awaiting them.

“I’ll be playing basketball soon,” Forrest said.

Forrest Purser is a new man.

“I’ve known I would need a transplant since I was five-years-old and I’ve been waiting for it for a really long time,” said Forrest.

While Forrest was waiting, his wife Annalisa is finally able to admit he was dying.

“I always just thought of him as being sick and looking back on it I realized that I was watching him die in front of me,” said Annalisa.

Forrest was still waiting to be put on Indiana’s donor registry when we met him a month into his move but he says he knew he was in the right place.

“I think we were led here. I think God played his part in helping us get to where we needed to be,” said Forrest.

Because one day after being put on the list, the Pursers would get the call they had waited eight years for in Utah. Doctors had found a match.

“It’s real. There was someone who lost their life, and in doing that they gave life to me,” said Forrest.

For the first time in his life, Forrest will soon be pain-free. Things most of us take for granted, he is thrilled to do.

“I’m ready to get out and go see things and do things. It’s pretty exciting,” said Forrest.

Annalisa is excited too.

“He’s getting some chores,” she laughed. “I am excited to have a partner. It’s been awhile since we could do things together.”

But lying unseen just beneath their joy is anguish knowing their case isn’t the norm.

“We’ve lost friends who were waiting, and they thought it will just be a while longer, we can make it and it’s heartbreaking,” said Forrest.

As they begin their journey back home, they’re not losing site of their ultimate goal: to raise awareness about being a donor.

“If the whole country would come together and generously register to be organ donors, people would have the ability to stay at home and get transplanted without having to move across the country,” said Annalisa.

A desperate move for the Pursers led to a second chance at life, one they’re eager to start living.

“It’s just going to go up from here so it’s exciting,” said Forrest.

According to Forrest, if he would have stayed in Utah he still would’ve been years away from the top of the registry. Instead, he’s now beginning his new life.

If you’d like to find out more about being a donor visit www.IOPO.org.