Liver recipient dies after crash

A Huntington Beach high school graduate who underwent a liver transplant at 14 has died of injuries he received in a car accident.

Nicholas Russell, 18, was on his way to meet family for dinner March 11 when he was rear-ended in Stanton, said family friend Christine Martin.

Russell was hospitalized at Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim Hills, where he underwent brain surgery after the accident. He remained in a coma for a week and died March 18, Martin said.

Russell, who had been attending Orange Coast College, graduated in 2005 from the Academy of Performing Arts at Huntington Beach High School, where he studied acting.

“He was always interested and worked hard,” said acting teacher Robert Rotenberry, who taught Russell for four years.

Russell had a liver transplant in 2001 but later discovered the donor liver was infected with hepatitis C. Months after the transplant, Russell was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a disease in which the bone marrow stops making enough blood-forming stem cells.

Russell’s family, along with friends from the performing arts academy, held fundraisers for medical expenses not covered by insurance.

Since then, he had been managing the aplastic anemia with medication, Martin said.

Despite sometimes missing class due to his illness, Russell always worked hard to make up for lost time, Rotenberry said.

“The fact that he persisted in this because it was his love ? he sort of went against the odds to pursue what he liked,” Rotenberry said.

Russell was an only child and lived with his mother, Rebecca Russell, in Westminster, Martin said.

“She’s doing as well as can be expected,” Martin said.

Instead of flowers, contributions can be made at any Bank of America branch to the Nicholas Russell memorial fund in the name of Rebecca Russell, account number 24234-46408.