After meeting in a transplant support group and both receiving new organs, Ben and Courtney began building a life neither had expected. In April of 2023, Courtney accepted Ben’s marriage proposal, and now they’re looking toward their upcoming wedding with great anticipation and gladness.
“Life after transplant is a life worth living.”
In 2020, Ben Babb was facing the detrimental symptoms of end-stage liver disease. Life had become unbearably complicated. Struggling with his muscles wasting away, edema, fatigue and more, he became unable to do his job. Ben decided to resign his position and move in with his brother and sister-in-law. The impending failure of his liver rendered him unable to manage life alone. His condition was declining rapidly. “I was told I would die in three months or less,” Ben recalls.
Likewise, in 2021, Courtney White was on her own liver failure journey. Just two short weeks after receiving her diagnosis, she took medical leave from a job she deeply loved. Her career was placed on hold, she could no longer walk alone, her mother moved in, and nobody knew how much time was left. Though life was filled with incredible pain and uncertainty, she didn’t give up. “I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to fight, but I fought for my children and my future,” Courtney says.
While Ben and Courtney were both receiving state-of-the-art treatment at the INTEGRIS Health Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute, they each heard the heart-stopping words, “You need a liver transplant.” Life had changed dramatically. Their futures were now in the hands of caregivers who ensured their placement on the transplant list and worked hard to provide lifesaving care while they waited. Uncertain of the future and in need of community, support, and hope, these two weary patients joined an online support group filled with transplant patients waiting for new organs as well as those who had received transplants.
Until now, Ben and Courtney had never met, and neither of them knew how much their worlds were about to transform. Through the peer-to-peer experience in the meetings, Ben and Courtney crossed paths. “I had become an active group member,” Ben remembers. “I was able to watch Courtney’s journey. I was a witness to her strength and resilience. Even though she was one of the sickest people, I watched her fight to get better.”
In September of 2021, Ben received his liver transplant. His second chance at life had finally arrived. Six months later, Courtney’s came as well. Hope became a reality. As members of their support group and fellow transplant recipients, Ben and Courtney shared a mutual excitement, joy and view of the future. What’s more, a romantic attraction began to develop as well.
“I called him ‘the boy in the box’ because we met through the support group online. He asked me out three days after I left the hospital. I was still yellow and very thin. I don’t know what he was thinking, but I was elated,” Courtney shares. Both still healing from transplant surgeries and experiencing the effects of receiving new organs, Ben and Courtney began building a life neither had expected. In April of 2023, Courtney accepted Ben’s marriage proposal, and now they’re looking toward their upcoming wedding with great anticipation and gladness.
“I feel lucky to go through life with someone who has been through the same struggles. He knows what I go through because he goes through it also,” Courtney remarks. Because two people generously chose to be organ donors, Ben and Courtney can spend the rest of their lives together and build a family.
“I wish everyone could see the difference one donor can make,” Ben concludes. “I now understand that the purpose of life is serving others. My donor has allowed me to reach countless people, speak to them, and demonstrate how beautiful life can be. Life after transplant is worth living.”
