Former HBCU Roommates Reunite After 21 Years For Rare Life-Saving Liver Transplant
The bond that college roommates share can sometimes last a lifetime, meanwhile others can drift apart and only have those few years of room and board between the two.
We came across a pair of former Norfolk State University roomies that’s relationship falls somewhere in the middle; even though they hadn’t seen each other in 21 years, their brotherhood proved to stand the test of time after one provided a part of his liver to the other during a rare transplant surgery.
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Dr. Richard Koonce grabbed the hearts of many when he went pubic via Facebook last week with his diagnosis of a rare liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis (seen above). PSC is a chronic disease where bile ducts in and out of the liver become inflamed, which leads to scarring, blockage, bile build up and ultimately liver damage. It wasn’t until his former NSU roommate Steven Robinson stepped up to provide the transplant in a surgery that officially went down yesterday.
Read the details behind this true miracle story below, via NBC News:
“Koonce had introduced Robinson to his wife, Natalie, when they all attended Norfolk State University, a historically Black college in Virginia. When his old friend reached out he welcomed the couple and their three children to his home in Sandusky, Ohio, last summer.
‘Felt great to see him after so long,’ Robinson said.
But he was taken aback by Koonce’s considerable weight loss.
In a private moment, he asked: ‘Hey, man. What’s going on? You OK?’
Koonce was not OK. Since 2019 he had been battling a rare liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis, or PSC, a chronic disease that causes scarring within the bile ducts that can result in infections, tumors and severe liver failure, according to the American Liver Foundation.
He hadn’t planned on telling Robinson of his condition. But since he asked, he shared that he had tried various treatment options with little success, and that he was seeking a living donor for a transplant. The liver is the only organ in the body that can grow cells and regenerate itself, enabling a donor to give up a part of his liver to someone in need and the donor’s will grow back.”
Robinson’s selfless gesture is said to be saving or at the very least extending his friend’s life, and it’s so powerful to witness the true test of unbreakable bonds.
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We’re praying for a speedy recovery for both Richard & Steven, and can’t wait for the update on how this tightened their bond even further.
I’m raising money for
Prayers for Dr. Richard Koonce.
Click to Donate: https://t.co/tNQsDAUJUk #GoFundMe@gobluestreaks @sanduskyregistr @AndyOuriel @CaitlinNearhood— Babe Sidoti-Palmer, LPSC (@Babesidoti) February 6, 2022
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