Tucked away in a quiet corner during a family ski trip to Vermont, Jess Kankoski Goeller ’04 finds a moment of solitude to reflect on her time at Allegheny College. Goeller works full time as a project manager of medical devices at Bayer in Pittsburgh. She’s also a wife and mother of four boys, which makes uninterrupted time hard to come by.
Family comes in many forms, and for Goeller, that network includes fellow alumni.
“Allegheny College is a family unit, and we will always be family. Time will never lessen the love, friendship, and compassion we have for one another,” Goeller says.
It’s been 20 years since she graduated, but the biology major still keeps in touch with her former women’s basketball teammates from time to time, namely her longtime friend from high school and college roommate, Meredith McDonough ’05, with whom she shares a bond and sisterhood that goes well beyond college. The former teammates have reconnected recently to help raise awareness for organ donation, an endeavor Goeller supports on a deeply personal level as her 10-year-old son, Lucas, is in critical need of a liver transplant.
This is the second time the Goellers are seeking a life-saving liver donation for Lucas, and the family is feeling a sense of urgency this time around.
“When your liver is failing, you ride such a fine line between life and death – you could be stable one day and very unstable the next day; there’s no way to anticipate where you’re headed,” says Goeller.
The Goeller family continues to seek comfort through their shared love of the outdoors, where the four brothers relish in hunting, skiing, fishing, and hiking.
“When Lucas was dying from liver failure when he was two, we found that nature and being outside was so good for us. It helped us get out of the hospital or out of the house and see the beauty in life, which provided us with a lot of hope to keep fighting,” says Goeller.
The Goeller family
The tight-knit family of six also learned to lean on their support system of family and friends, who are helping to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation through their social media platforms and personal networks. With over 100,000 people on the transplant waiting list, one of their goals is to register as many people as they can on Donate Life America, the nationally recognized nonprofit responsible for managing the National Donate Life Registry at RegisterMe.org.
That’s also where Goeller’s relationship with her former Allegheny women’s basketball teammate, McDonough, came into play. The communication arts and media major and political science minor works for Hearst Media as a news anchor in Orlando, Florida, and reconnected with Goeller in December to see if there was anything she could do to help spread the word about Lucas.
“It’s tough when you leave college and start your careers and family; life gets so busy, but the beautiful thing about having Meredith as an Allegheny Gator and family member is that when I reached out to her, it was like we were still in college. She didn’t hesitate one second, and she already had a plan in her head to support our family,” Goeller says.
In addition to social media outreach, the Save Lucas Campaign includes 25 billboards donated by Lamar Advertising to raise awareness about organ donation and help find Lucas a donor
Teammates for Life
McDonough’s also a mother of four, with kids around the same age as Goeller. As soon as she heard the news about Lucas, she knew she needed to take action. After a story about Lucas aired on WTAE in Pittsburgh, McDonough asked her station to share the segment in Orlando, where Lucas’ doctor coincidentally performs monthly liver transplant surgeries.
“You want to go the extra mile to make sure Lucas’ story is out there because when you’re a teammate, you’re a teammate for life,” McDonough says. “We were a tight-knit community at Allegheny. We were a very close team, and that’s the beauty of being a college athlete – you have a devotion to others in addition to yourself, and you have to put others in front of yourself, which makes a huge difference in how you carry yourself the rest of your life.”
Just as they did as teammates at Allegheny, McDonough and Goeller are working in tandem to share the message about organ donation with their Allegheny community in the hopes of registering as many donors as possible.
“I had always dreamed of making an impact in the community and helping those in need. I never would have dreamed that I would be fighting to save my son Lucas and many like him by spreading the importance of organ donation awareness across the world,” says Goeller. “I now dream of signing up a record number of organ donors while we wait for a generous donor to save Lucas. Let’s save one person at a time and get them back home to
their families.”
The bond among alumni is always notable, but in this case, it opened the door to a lifeline for Lucas.
Allegheny College liver transplant story for Travis, March 20, 2024. Photo by Ed Mailiard.
A Teammate Steps Up
On the last Friday in March, Goeller and her family reunited with a handful of former women’s basketball teammates, as well as their former coach, Jennifer Reimer, and former head athletic trainer, Jamie Plunkett, at Allegheny’s David V. Wise Athletic Center for a tearful reunion centered around Lucas and his potential life-saving donor, Goeller’s former teammate Allison Roberts Hodas ’06.
“Here we are on Good Friday, with Allison willing to sacrifice to save Lucas, and it brings chills to me. I run out of words when I think about it. I think that is the definition of a true hero – someone who is willing to sacrifice 12 weeks of themselves so someone else can live,” Goeller says. “The bond we created 20 years ago is inseparable now. Time can’t break that bond.”
Goeller, a Gator MVP, all-conference, and all-American player, wanted to save her reunion with Hodas until they were both back on the hardwood at the Wise Center– a space filled with many triumphs and challenges. WTAE in Pittsburgh was there to capture the reunion, which was filled with tears of joy and disbelief, as the former teammates shared their memories both on and off the court. Lucas, now armed with a new lease on life, also presented Hodas with a spring bouquet as a symbol of his gratitude.
“We had this saying, ‘Once a Gator, always a Gator,’ when we were in school. And I just think that it’s one of those friendships. When you’re teammates for so long, you can kind of pick back up right where you left off,” Hodas says.
When the heartfelt WTAE interview was over, the former teammates gathered on the court to join their children, effortlessly shooting hoops as if 20 years hadn’t passed.
“It’s been over 20 years since we played on this court,” Goeller said. “On this court here, we have fought endless battles for four straight years. I would always tell myself that it’s not over until it’s over.”
After various tests confirming she was the perfect match – and with the support of her husband, their three sons, her parents, and her medical team at UPMC – Hodas agreed to donate a portion of her liver.
But, the process of liver donation is complicated and ever-changing. As of press time, Lucas’ transplant team believes that a liver from a deceased donor or a domino transplant (a complex procedure that involves three patients and three consecutive but overlapping operations) would provide a better match for Lucas, offering improved long-term outcomes and limiting postoperative complications.
“I knew that if I was a match that I wasn’t going to say no,” Hodas said. “For me to sacrifice 12 weeks of my life to hopefully give Lucas the rest of his, it was an easy decision to make.” As athletes, she said, the women are used to winning and losing, pivoting, and strategizing.
This situation is, of course, far more stressful than any game the former teammates have played together. But they are going with the flow and holding up well. Both the family and medical team are closely monitoring Lucas’ health, which remains stable yet uncertain.
“A year ago, life was more predictable, Lucas was stronger and more robust,” Goeller says. “Now, I see life becoming less predictable. In a blink of an eye, things change.”
Despite the waiting game of being on the transplant list, Goeller continues to advocate for her son, as well as for others in need of life-saving transplants. Her strength in the face of adversity and her dedication to spreading the message about organ donation set a state record
in July 2024 for the most organ donor sign-ups.
“It’s not just my work that is setting records; it’s our entire Save Lucas community,” Goeller says. “Anyone who has liked our posts, shared the story, or took it upon themselves to get others signed up for organ donation truly deserves to be recognized, and the award really is a beautiful tribute to our entire community.”
In addition, Donate Life America has recognized the Saved Lucas campaign’s methods in spreading awareness, and expressed interest in utilizing the Goellers’ template as a model for securing more organ donors in the future.
“The reality is, everybody is suffering on some level, so you have to learn to appreciate your journey and know that you’re on this journey for a reason,” Goeller says. “It might take a long time to figure out why you’re going through such a difficult time, but it all has a purpose, and that purpose is greater than you can ever imagine.”
As Lucas waits for a liver, his family urges the community to consider registering as organ donors, a decision that could save lives and bring hope to families like theirs. As to the alumni connection between the women and their families? It’s proven to be a lifeline in more ways than one.
If you’re interested in registering to become an organ donor, please visit registerme.org/campaign/SaveLucas.
To support the Save Lucas campaign on social media, please visit:
