In 2013, I was diagnosed with a very rare autoimmune liver disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). There is no treatment or cure, and 50% of people with PSC will eventually need a liver transplant within ten years. By 2023, I was in urgent need of a transplant but my only hope was to find a living donor. I had no matches in my family or amongst my friends, and so I had to launch a public campaign asking someone to be brave enough to help me. A stranger named Trisha Beard living 4200km away in Portland saw my appeal and without any hesitation submitted the forms to my hospital in Toronto, Canada. On June 12, 2024 Trisha flew up to give me 62% of her beautiful liver, which saved my life. This compassionate and generous woman cared so much about me — someone she had never met before — that she was willing to risk her life to save mine and I am alive today because of her.

Trisha is a nurse, wife, mother of two small children, daughter, sister, and the finest human being I have ever known. My love and gratitude for her grows every day. “Thank you” will never be enough.