RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond woman with a rare disease thanked a stranger who will soon give her part of his liver.
Shari Bennett-Speer was 30 years old when she listened to her body and sought a doctor for persistent stomach issues.
“They did an ultrasound. They figured they'd find something like IBS, and they discovered that my liver and kidneys were covered in and filled with cysts,” she explained.
Doctors diagnosed her with a degenerative and genetic condition called polycystic liver and kidney disease.
No one in her immediate family ever had this deadly disease.
A liver transplant would help, but Bennett-Speer’s doctors said her condition did not warrant a spot on the transplant list for a diseased donor.
“I just started telling people my story and my niece contacted VCU Health. A friend of mine contacted VCU Health to get tested,” she recalled. “They went through months and months of testing and right at the end of their testing, they were both told they weren't candidates.”
Over the last 25 years, Bennett-Speer has been hospitalized several times thinking she would be in pain for the rest of her life. She has always lived an active life serving in Henrico County Government’s Human Resources office for more than two decades. She also teaches and performs belly dancing as a hobby and in front of large crowds.
She continued to share her journey after connecting with a local liver specialist. Word of mouth helped her connect with a stranger. A friend of a friend - a Chesterfield fighter named Andrew.
“If you donate a piece of your liver, that piece grows into a full liver and the donor's leftover part of their liver grows into a full liver,” Bennett-Speer said. “He also was the only one with my blood type who went through which makes the surgery even better.”
After her surgery, she will spend three to six months recovering a home with the support and help from family and friends.
Those friends printed t-shirts in support reading "Shandari," a combination of Shari and Andrew.
Bennett-Speer knows her road to recovery will be long, but she promises to dance again thanks to a stranger.
“You're an extraordinary human being, and the big heartedness and the selflessness to be willing to be cut open and go through major surgery for a stranger so that she has hope for a better life is extraordinary,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I will never have words to explain what that means to me.”
Bennett-Speer and Andrew will undergo surgery at VCU Medical Center next week.
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