After Son’s Death Woman Gives Part of Her Liver to His Best Friend’s Mom in Serendipitous Kindness Chain

In celebration of National Donate Life Month in April comes an inspiring story of two old friends who were reunited through grief and kindness—and ended up creating ‘the perfect plan’.

15 years ago, Anjie Lynchard moved across the street from Mary Ann Carroll in Columbia, Maryland. Their sons, Jared and Phillip, soon became best friends. “They were practically inseparable, spending all their time together biking, fishing, and catching frogs,” says Anjie.

But they moved just three years later and the families lost touch with only sparse social media contact between them. Jared and Phillip grew into adults and Jared joined the Marines. Then, a year ago, tragedy struck when 23-year-old Jared died suddenly.

“Mary Ann came by after Jared passed away to offer condolences and bring me a prayer shawl,” says Anjie. “I noticed right away that she looked different from when I saw her last (roughly a span of 11 years) and I asked her if everything was okay.”

It was then that Mary Ann recounted a three-year struggle with illness that resulted in end-stage liver disease, for which the only cure was a liver transplant.

In October 2023, Mary Ann was placed on the national waiting list for a suitable organ, which at the time held over 10,200 patient names.

After Mary Ann departed, Anjie prayed for a miracle to save her friend’s life. She had no clue at that moment that she would be that miracle.

“Several months after my visit from Mary Ann, I saw on Facebook that she had posted a search for a living donor to provide a portion of their liver (because) no one in her family was suitable as a donor.”

Anjie says that her strong faith gave her the courage and motivation to honor her late son by getting tested as a possible living donor for Mary Ann. When she told old friend about her potentially lifesaving offer, Mary Ann was hesitant, not wanting to burden her friend so soon after dealing with a family tragedy.

But what really convinced Anjie to donate was something her husband Steve told her. “Steve recalled that during a missionary trip to Costa Rica, not long after Jared’s passing, a minister told him, ‘Out of Jared’s death, new life will be born,’” Anjie recalled. “Steve and I were astonished because my donation would be the literal fulfillment of those words.”

Mary Ann recalled, “It was as if Jared was telling her to save my life.”

It turns out, the results showed that Anjie was indeed a match. Mary Ann was going to get a second chance for life.

When the transplant surgery was scheduled for Dec. 3, 2024, Anjie felt it had been fated from above.

“Jared had been deeply inspired by a sermon he heard in church exactly one year earlier, Dec. 3, 2023, that was entitled ‘The Perfect Plan,’” says Anjie. “When I recalled the title, I knew this transplant was destined by God to be that ‘perfect plan’ and that Jared was telling me from heaven, ‘Good job, Mom.’”

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The successful transplant, performed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, surgically removed a portion of Anjie’s liver and implanted it in Mary Ann to replace her failed organ.

And, Lynchard’s surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Philosophe, utilized a robotic surgery system, which is minimally invasive in a way that was much easier on Anjie.

“The robotic arms—which the surgeon controls from a console and are linked to a high-resolution camera—enable us to have magnified views of the surgical field, operate with extremely precise movements, and most importantly, make smaller incisions and perform more delicate tissue removal than open surgery,” explained Philosophe in a media release from Johns Hopkins. “For the donor, this means less pain, faster recovery, and better post-operative outcomes.”

“Best of all, I expected a big scar and was thrilled to only have a few small ones that healed quickly,” said the living donor.

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Three months after receiving her old friend’s liver donation, Mary Ann is doing well. A very spiritual person, she feels that there was divine intervention bringing her and Lynchard together, and eventually, leading to the healthy, renewed life that Anjie’s gracious act made possible.

“So many things had to happen to make this a reality: our sons being friends, taking Anjie the prayer shawl and her seeing me so sick, finding out that Anjie was a suitable donor… It’s like God and Jared had a hand in it all,” says Mary Ann.

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“I have a photo magnet on my refrigerator of Anjie and Jared, my angel on Earth and my angel in heaven.”

Additionally, Anjie points out that by donating a portion of her liver, someone was able to move up the waiting list for a deceased donor liver.

“As my nurse practitioner told me, ‘You not only saved Mary Ann’s life, but also a second life.’”

Mary Ann, the beneficiary of her friend’s special gift, fervently hopes that her story will inspire others to become living donors.

“If you can save a life, why wouldn’t you? What greater gift can anyone give.”

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