An anonymous donor has come forward to help a young St. John's family struggling to come up with money to afford a trip to Halifax for a liver transplant.

CBC Radio aired a story on Friday about Craig Webber and his family. Last year, Craig, 26, was diagnosed with Budd-Chiari Syndrome — an extremely rare condition that causes blood clotting.

After being flown to Halifax, doctors told Craig and his wife Sarah, 24, that he would need a liver transplant, and he was placed on a waiting list. The Webber family has been struggling to raise funds to pay for the trip.

The Webber family before Craig became sick with Budd-Chiari Syndrome. (Courtesy of the Webber family)

Sarah's mother received a phone call from a man who wanted to know more about Craig's condition and how much money they would need to pay for the expenses.

The man said he would like to make an anonymous donation of $5,000 to the couple to help them out.

"We didn't know how we were going to cover all this stuff, and then everyone just came together and just one person did the most of our costs, which was amazing," Sarah said.

"It's amazing that some people are just so generous and will help if they can," she said. "I've still never met the man."

Shocked by generosity

Craig said when Sarah's mother phoned with the news, he didn't know what had happened because she was so emotional.

"[The phone conversation] sounded like somebody died — that's what I thought. When she did explain what had happened, I was just taken back — I was speechless," Craig said.

"It's basically a life saver. It's going to help me get through this mountain, I call it, that's been put in front of me. I was taken back."

They still have not met the man, but said they will always be grateful to him for helping them.

"If I passed him on the street, I probably wouldn't even know who he was," Sarah said. "He'll never understand how much it means to us."

The Webbers are students and have two young children, Isaac, 4, and Eli, 1, who will also need child care.

The provincial government does have a program to reimburse families for a portion of the costs of travel, but not all costs are covered.