Jonathan King is a constantly active 27 year-old. Whether he is out fishing, hitting the gym, going on walks, or partaking in the Special Olympics, there is very little that slows him down. He grew up in Eden Prairie with his parents, Dave and Linda, and his twin brother, Jacob. Jonathan has spent much of his life helping others through his work, specifically working as a special education paraprofessional throughout the last couple of years.

We created this GoFundMe because Jonathan was born with a single-ventricle congenital heart defect and has undergone three open-heart surgeries during his first three years of life, followed by an additional open-heart surgery at age 17. During these surgeries, his blood flow was redirected using a Fontan circulation procedure, which directs blood flow around the heart and directly into the lungs. This makes up for his heart’s inability to pump blood effectively but results in elevated blood pressure, which especially affects his liver.

Because of these procedures, and the many others that he has endured, Jonathan’s liver has experienced a lot of stress throughout his life. Over the last couple of years, he has been living with advanced liver disease; this has been monitored and his condition remained stable until recently. In early October, our family received the news that Jonathan had a cancerous tumor in his liver. His medical team decided that he needed to be seen ASAP, and Jonathan was admitted to the University of Minnesota hospital on October 28th, 2025.

Due to his medical history, Jonathan’s care team determined that the best course of action will be a double transplant of his heart and his liver. Jonathan has been undergoing a number of different tests throughout the last month to determine his eligibility and priority on the transplant list. At the end of November, we got the news that Jonathan was successfully listed for transplant, though it still may be a couple of months to a year until a donor is found. In the meantime, he will be undergoing radiation treatment for his cancer.

Jonathan is expected to be in recovery for at least one month in the hospital following his operation. After this, he is going to be recovering at home for a duration of at least six months to one year. Our family is going to have to monitor him 24/7 throughout the first month at home. After the first month, he will still have to avoid work and strenuous physical activity. Throughout this difficult time, our family is requesting any help that can be given to cover expenses ranging from medical, transportation, meals, and other costs that will be incurred throughout his recovery process.

We will continue to provide updates through this GoFundMe page and Jonathan’s personal Facebook page. If you are interested in visiting Jonathan during this time, or if you want to contact our family (if you don’t already have our contact information), please do so through the “contact” button in the organizers section.

Thank you all for your continued support and generosity.

-The King Family