This is the heartwarming moment Ashli Taylor, who received a life-saving liver transplant as a baby, got a surprise visit from her surgeon 15 years later.
This is the heartwarming moment a high school student who received a life-saving liver transplant as a baby got a surprise visit from her surgeon 15 years later.
Ashli Taylor, of Temple, Texas, was not even a year old when she was forced to go in for surgery due to a rare congenital condition.
Ashli Taylor, of Temple, Texas, was not even a year old when she was forced to go in for surgery due to a rare congenital condition.
The teen was overcome with emotion as she met the man who was the reason she was alive today.
Thanks to the skills of her talented surgeon Dr. Robert Goldstein, and her mother's incredible decision to donate part of her own liver to her daughter, Ashli went onto make a miraculous recovery.
The 15-year-old was too young to remember the man who helped saved her life so when her teacher Brad Billeaudeaux set the class a creative writing assignment, she decided to send a letter to Dr. Goldstein in September to say thank you.
Having mailed the letter, she thought no more about it - until the doctor strolled into her theater arts class at Temple High School yesterday afternoon.
'Guess who?' said Dr. Robert Goldstein, a transplant specialist from Baylor Scott & White Dallas, who told The Tennessean he was so touched by the gesture he had wanted to surprise her.
[. . .]
'Kids that go through the same thing... they don't always make it,' Taylor said. 'And me being able to make it, I'm just really grateful for those who helped.
'[Doctors] don't get a lot of 'thank-yous,' Taylor said. 'They need to know people appreciate their work.
The experience was just as emotional for Dr. Goldstein who admitted that the moment had nearly had him in tears alongside Ashli.
He said he had performed hundreds of surgeries over the years, but her letter out the blue had moved him and 'everybody in the office.'
'I can't tell you what this means,' he said.
'We made an impact on her, but Ashli made more of an impact on us. This is why we spend the hours doing what we do, because when you see something like this, it's incredible.'
'She moved me to the point where I wanted to give back,' Goldstein added. 'I wanted her to realize her words had a real lasting impression.'
In her moving letter, seen by the Temple Daily Telegram, Taylor wrote: 'You probably have no idea who I am, but you had a great impact in my life.'
'I know you've had a lot of patients over the years and they appreciate your work. But my parents' lives would be totally different if it weren't for you, especially my mom.'
Ashli was born with rare congenital cirrhosis of the liver.
The 15-year-old was too young to remember the man who helped saved her life so when her teacher Brad Billeaudeaux set the class a creative writing assignment, she decided to send a letter to Dr. Goldstein in September to say thank you.
Having mailed the letter, she thought no more about it - until the doctor strolled into her theater arts class at Temple High School yesterday afternoon.
'Guess who?' said Dr. Robert Goldstein, a transplant specialist from Baylor Scott & White Dallas, who told The Tennessean he was so touched by the gesture he had wanted to surprise her.
[. . .]
'Kids that go through the same thing... they don't always make it,' Taylor said. 'And me being able to make it, I'm just really grateful for those who helped.
'[Doctors] don't get a lot of 'thank-yous,' Taylor said. 'They need to know people appreciate their work.
The experience was just as emotional for Dr. Goldstein who admitted that the moment had nearly had him in tears alongside Ashli.
He said he had performed hundreds of surgeries over the years, but her letter out the blue had moved him and 'everybody in the office.'
'I can't tell you what this means,' he said.
'We made an impact on her, but Ashli made more of an impact on us. This is why we spend the hours doing what we do, because when you see something like this, it's incredible.'
'She moved me to the point where I wanted to give back,' Goldstein added. 'I wanted her to realize her words had a real lasting impression.'
In her moving letter, seen by the Temple Daily Telegram, Taylor wrote: 'You probably have no idea who I am, but you had a great impact in my life.'
'I know you've had a lot of patients over the years and they appreciate your work. But my parents' lives would be totally different if it weren't for you, especially my mom.'
Ashli was born with rare congenital cirrhosis of the liver.
[. . .]
The teen has gone onto to surpass all expectations and is in Advanced Placement classes at school and is a member of the band, choir and theater arts - despite fears her illness might cause her to fall behind academically.
She went onto to make a full recovery and has not shown any signs of organ rejection.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3341729/Moment-surgeon-performed-life-saving-liver-transplant-operation-surprises-teenage-recipient-15-years-later-heartfelt-thank-letter.html
Reunited: Surgeon who performed life-saving liver transplant surprises teenage recipient 15 years later after her heartfelt thank you letter
Ashli Taylor needed a liver transplant before she was a year old due to rare congenital condition
Her mother donated part of her liver and the life-saving operation was performed by Dr. Robert Goldstein
The 15-year-old wrote to the surgeon to thank him as part of a school creative writing project
He was so moved by the letter he decided to surprise the teen at class
By HANNAH PARRY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 16:58 EST, 1 December 2015 | UPDATED: 00:40 EST, 2 December 2015
She went onto to make a full recovery and has not shown any signs of organ rejection.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3341729/Moment-surgeon-performed-life-saving-liver-transplant-operation-surprises-teenage-recipient-15-years-later-heartfelt-thank-letter.html
Reunited: Surgeon who performed life-saving liver transplant surprises teenage recipient 15 years later after her heartfelt thank you letter
Ashli Taylor needed a liver transplant before she was a year old due to rare congenital condition
Her mother donated part of her liver and the life-saving operation was performed by Dr. Robert Goldstein
The 15-year-old wrote to the surgeon to thank him as part of a school creative writing project
He was so moved by the letter he decided to surprise the teen at class
By HANNAH PARRY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 16:58 EST, 1 December 2015 | UPDATED: 00:40 EST, 2 December 2015
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