Baby Emmett is getting a new liver – from his dad.

“I’m very glad it’s me,” Michael Smith told the Star Tuesday afternoon from Edmonton, where the baby will undergo his liver transplant next week.

“We’re all happy about it,” said mom Charlotte Francis.

It has been a whirlwind week for the Francis-Smith family, on top of the taxing few months they’ve endured with their youngest child, five-month-old Emmett, in hospital for liver cancer treatment.

First, Francis learned her liver wasn’t a match for her son’s.

That was devastating news, Smith said. But just hours later, the hospital called and said Smith had the same blood type as Emmett.

Smith flew from Whitehorse to Edmonton the next day, and underwent various tests – a CT scan, MRI, electrocardiogram and bloodwork – to see if his liver was compatible.

“It was controlled chaos,” Smith said.

The family learned Monday that he could be the donor.

They were out getting coffee with the baby when the phone rang.

“We started crying and getting strange looks from people,” Francis said with a laugh. “And Emmett is just looking at us like, what is wrong with you guys?”

Emmett and his dad will undergo surgery Monday.

Francis said Emmett is doing well – he finished five rounds of chemotherapy, which shrunk the tumour 60 per cent, he’s put on weight and is still smiling.

He’s also started to emit happy screams.

Though Emmett’s tumour has shrunk, it’s too close to blood vessels and arteries to remove it and leave the rest of the liver, Francis said. That’s why a transplant is necessary.

He’ll need just a piece of his dad’s liver.

Smith said the weeks and months after the surgery will be difficult for him and Emmett.

It all depends on how Emmett’s body reacts to the new liver. He’ll have to be flown down to Edmonton periodically for testing in the years to come, Smith said.

As for Smith, doctors have told him to expect several weeks of recovery. He won’t be able to lift anything over 10 pounds at first.

“It’s about being here for the little guy,” Smith said. “I have no problem doing this at all.”

Emmett was first medevaced to Vancouver last January for chemotherapy. When doctors determined he needed a transplant, he and Francis flew to Edmonton, where the procedure could be done.

The couple’s three other children are still in Whitehorse.

Friends and supporters raised more than $10,000 for the family’s medical and travel costs through an online campaign earlier this year.