by Matt Batcheldor
When Beverly Fite’s brother, Dan, needed a liver transplant, she had a feeling like a lot of potential living organ donors — she immediately knew she would be the one to donate.
She had recently learned that Vanderbilt University Medical Center makes it possible for someone to donate part of their liver to a loved one, and the resulting partial livers in the donor and recipient can regenerate to become fully functional organs, typically within six weeks.
After other relatives were tested and Beverly was determined to be the best match, she didn’t hesitate to donate her liver, which she did in May 2022. She has no regrets.
“If you’re given an opportunity to, do something,” she said. “Give a gift to someone who you love so dearly. … For me, this is my big brother. He was a huge part of just me becoming me.”
Beverly, who is finishing nursing school at Auburn University, will be among the guest speakers at VUMC’s Donate Life Flag-Raising Ceremony, part of a national effort to raise awareness about the need for organ and tissue donors. The event, scheduled for noon on Friday, April 14 by the flagpole on the VUMC Plaza, celebrates families of deceased organ donors, living donors and hospital staff who care for donors and transplant recipients. This is the first year the event is being held in person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beverly’s brother, Dan, was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis at 12, and he came under Vanderbilt’s care when he came to Nashville to study at Belmont University.
His doctors were able to manage his condition for years, through bouts of stabbing pain in his abdomen due to gallstones.
Dan knew he would eventually need a new liver, but the scarcity of available deceased donor livers meant he could spend years on a waiting list as he got sick enough to qualify. That set in motion the search for a liver donor, starting with many of his cousins. When he found out his sister was his best match, he had mixed emotions.
“I was relieved because it meant we were going to be able to get the surgery done,” he said, but “in the grand scheme of things, I probably would have rather had her not go through that. But now that we’ve all come through and all out on the other side, all I can do is just express my extreme gratitude and commend her bravery.”
Both siblings had the opportunity to recover together over the summer of 2022 in a home in Nashville, supported by multiple family members, during Beverly’s break from nursing school.
Through it all, the siblings’ bond, already close, became tighter still.
For Beverly, seeing Dan for the first time after the surgery, made it all worth it. His skin, even the whites of his eyes, were no longer jaundiced.
“I was getting to see just what a gift I was able to give him,” she said. “This is incredible. This is amazing.”
Dan said he’s feeling fine for the most part and is incredibly grateful to his sister.
“Bev, to me, is the best of us,” Dan said. “She is the most generous soul. And I am not only forever indebted to her, but I … admire her and want to be her when I grow up.”
