Gathered together in this photo are Rob Wallace and his wife Lori (center and second from left respectively) and their three children.

As the creator of specialized glassware for scientific research, Rob Wallace has used his unique talents to contribute to over 30 years of medical breakthroughs. The Old Lyme resident now finds himself relying on the medical community – and his own community – to help him overcome his battle with liver cancer.

Doctors have told Wallace that his best chance for a healthy future is a liver transplant from a living donor, and his family is searching for someone who can give them that gift. Though doctors had him placed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in the summer of 2016, it is unlikely Wallace’s condition will remain stable long enough for him to receive a donation that way.

Wallace and his wife, Lori, are asking their community to help them find a living donor with Type O blood, either positive or negative. Doctors will transplant a section of the donor’s liver, and both the donor’s and Wallace’s liver will grow back to normal size within a few weeks. Potential donors are urged to contact the Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center to find out if they may be a match.

Since his diagnosis, Wallace has channeled the resulting anxiety into his glass blowing, establishing the artistic studio Arch One Design in Old Saybrook. The jewelry and decorative pieces he creates are both a creative outlet and a way to fund the research with which he is so familiar. “I want to help support the research,” Wallace said, “Not only by making the glass researchers need, but also by contributing part of the proceeds of my art to the American Liver Foundation.”

The couple has three children in the Lyme-Old Lyme School system, and Lori Wallace is a 500-hour registered yoga teacher.

For more information on becoming a living donor for Rob Wallace, visit the family’s website at www.robsjourney.com or call the Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center at 866-925-3897.