"This child was very, very ill and now they have a future."

Jocelyn Leworthy has a special connection to a baby she has never met.

It's a bond created when the 19-year-old Barrie woman donated a piece of her liver to the infant about six months ago, hoping to saving a tiny life and grant a miracle for a desperate family.

"I remember when I was in ICU, the surgeon came in and told me that the recipient was an infant," Leworthy said. "That was so crazy to think about, that someone so little needed my liver. That really put things into perspective for me."

Leworthy spent five days in hospital and a few weeks at home recovering from the major eight-hour surgery before returning to school and "a life that was changed in so many ways."

"I think about the baby every day, and I would like to meet the recipient one day, for sure," Jocelyn said in an interview with BarrieToday. "It may never happen, and that's ok . . . but it would be awesome to see how they are doing."

Now 20 and a registered Early Childhood Educator, Leworthy made the selfless decision to be a living donor when she was only 19 - inspired by the story of a close relative who became very sick, but recovered without needing a transplant.

After researching the possibilities, the young Georgian College student decided to go ahead with the process to become a living donor to someone on the transplant list. That decision placed Leworthy in a small group of Ontario residents who decide to give the gift of life by donating an organ while they are still healthy.

Living Donation is one of the most important sources of organs for transplantation, according to Ontario's Trillium Gift of Life Network.

The program accounted for 255 transplants in Ontario in 2012 and represents a significant portion of the increase in organ donation over the past ten years.

April is Donor Month and Leworthy is sharing her story to inspire others to learn more about the need for organ donors and the process to register.

​Her story is rare, as most living donors are family members or close friends of the recipient.

She says her decision was an easy one, since she had spent time volunteering at the Hospital for Sick Children and meeting acutely ill children and their families.

"Sadly, the only life some of these children knew was life in the hospital," she said.

"Some of them are not able to leave the hospital at all, because they are so acutely sick. When you need a liver, it's like a ticking time bomb.

"I knew what had to be done. I wanted to be able to give a child the opportunity to experience the joys in life, make memories with loved ones, to dream, to learn, to fall in love, and everything else that I have been so lucky to experience in my 19 years of life so far."

Once the decision was made, there were weekly trips to Toronto General Hospital for blood tests and scans, intense counselling and reflection, to ensure Leworthy knew what she was getting into and determine that she was a perfect donor candidate.

The process was intense and only possible with support from her parents, family, friends and professionals.

"I think my parents figured 'Someone else will tell her no.' They thought at some point I would be rejected ... but that just didn't happen."

By the first week of October, she was cleared and scheduled for surgery in two weeks.

"I remember the phone call. The news was fantastic," she remembers, "and brought up so many emotions."

But it wasn't until the morning of surgery that "it all felt real."

Dressed in her pyjamas, Jocelyn walked with her parents from a hotel to TGH to meet the surgeon. There was a quick goodbye to mom and dad before she was wheeled away.

"Going into it, I was terrified," she remembered.

And when she woke up, there was pain and rehabilitation to get her back on her feet.

Six months later, Leworthy has graduated from college and enrolled in psychology at Laurentian University. She is also completing a certificate in Child Life Studies online through the University of California. She is planning a career as a Child Life specialist, possibly at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.

She shared her story at the Ontario Legislature this week and met Premier Kathleen Wynne during Donor Month.

"I hope I can encourage others," she said. "Giving the gift of life to somebody else is such a unique feeling. It will change your life in so may positive ways.

"There is a child who was very, very ill and now they have a future."