To the patient, the parent, the caregiver, and the person in the “limbo” of waiting: I am one of you. My name is Aaron Jackson, and this is my story. But more importantly, this is a story about what’s possible.
My journey began in 1983, just 115 days after I was born. Diagnosed with Biliary Atresia, a rare liver disorder, my path was set. Doctors performed the Kasai procedure, a life-saving surgery that was far riskier then than it is today. Their predictions for my life were grim: stunted growth, learning difficulties, a weakened body.
Those predictions, as it turns out, were my first opportunity to defy the odds.
Despite their forecasts, I excelled. I loved the feeling of movement, of playing sports—soccer, basketball, baseball. I excelled in school. But this defiance didn’t come without a cost. The Kasai had left me with an enlarged spleen, and playing sports meant wearing a large, plastic contraption under my jersey to protect me from a fatal impact. I was an easy target for bullies, but that experience forged a resilience in me that I wouldn’t fully understand for decades.
For thirty-six years, I lived a full, “normal” life. I graduated with a degree in economics and built a successful career in banking. I was, by all accounts, a success story.
Then, in 2017, everything changed.
It started subtly: a profound exhaustion, hair loss, the unmistakable return of jaundice in my eyes. The “check engine light” was on. I was living in a toxic work environment, and my health was failing. I was in limbo, suffering from depression as my liver deteriorated, yet my MELD score wasn’t high enough to get on the transplant list. I felt too sick to live, but wasn’t “sick enough” to be saved.
By 2019, my body was giving out. My ammonia levels were so high I began to hallucinate. I was combative. I was no longer myself. My family rushed me to the hospital, and the next two weeks of my life went completely dark.
I woke up in December 2019 to a new reality: I had received my first liver transplant on 12/9/2019, but my vision was nearly gone. My muscles had atrophied so completely that, at 115 pounds, I couldn’t stand, let alone walk.
Then came the news that shattered even that small hope: the new liver was failing, and my kidneys were failing along with it.
What followed was the crucible. The next five weeks were a blur of 5 major surgeries and 17 surgical procedures. I was septic. I was, as one doctor put it, “the sickest person in California on the transplant waiting list.” I spent four months in that hospital, fighting for a life I could no longer see.
On January 14, 2020, just five weeks after the first, a miracle arrived: a second liver and a kidney, from one angel of a donor. This time, it worked. The jaundice vanished. My eyesight returned. I had been given a second chance, but I was at ground zero.
This is, in my opinion, where my real story begins. This is where I stopped being a “patient” and became an “architect.”
Rebuilding was not a metaphor. I had to learn to walk again. I had to learn to brush my teeth, to feed myself, to exist. Every single day, I had a choice: be defined by the 115-pound body and the trauma, or build something new.
I chose to build.
This process—this daily, “mandatory” decision to show up—became the foundation of my life’s philosophy: AKDS (Always Keep Doin’ Sh*t). It’s not just a phrase; it’s the operating system that saved my life. It’s the commitment to 1% forward momentum, every single day.
I took that 1% and I rebuilt. I went from the hospital bed to the gym. I went from 115 pounds to 185 pounds of strong, healthy muscle. And in the ultimate testament to this journey, I earned my Black Belt in mixed martial arts.
This transformation was not just physical; it was a mental and spiritual “rebuild.” I realized my purpose was not just to survive, but to serve.
My “audacity” to live a full life didn’t stop there. I went on “The Price is Right” and, with that same energy, won the entire Showcase. A trip to FIji, a trip to Iceland, and a hot tub. Why? Because my new life is not about “waiting”; it’s about AKDS.
My mission was forged in that fire. I co-chair fundraising walks for the Liver Health Foundation, which honored me with their 2025 Courage Award. I speak on podcasts and at hospitals like Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, sharing my story to spread a message of hope.
Out of this entire journey, AKDS Life, my life coaching business, was born. It is the “Platinum” system I developed to help others architect their own resilience. My vision has been to help people -from patients facing medical trauma to executives facing burnout- turn their “impossible odds” into their greatest strengths. I know the fear, the pain, and the feeling of being in “limbo.” I also know, with 100% certainty, that everyone has an architect inside of them who can rebuild themselves to where they were and even better..
My story is my proof. My scars are my story. If you need inspiration, I hope we can be that for each other.
Thank you for letting me share.
How to Connect with Aaron:
- Instagram: @AKDSLife
- YouTube: @AKDSLife
- Website: www.akds.life
- Email: [email protected]
