Maribeth Secrist

On October 23rd, Maribeth was admitted to the hospital for what she thought to be minor stomach issues. She was a patient at St. Elizabeth for about a month, where she fought off infections and found out she had cirrhosis of the liver, compromising her immune system. After contracting a bad case of pneumonia, Maribeth was urgently transferred to UC hospital where they cleared up the pneumonia and alerted her she was in dire need of a liver transplant to survive.

UC gave her 3-6 months to live, but she did not meet their criteria for transplant thus she could not be put on their list. They got her as healthy as possible and discharged her to Encompass Physical Rehabilitation Hospital on December 20th where she learned to walk again and built back up her strength. With the persistence of her family, they obtained an appointment with Johns Hopkins Transplant Team in Baltimore, Maryland where Maribeth along with family traveled immediately upon discharge from Encompass.

Johns Hopkins fantastic medical team saw the urgency of her situation and managed to get her on their transplant list on January 16th, four days after arrival. On January 25th, her father’s birthday, Maribeth was blessed to receive a new lease on life with a healthy, successful liver donation and transplant. She is currently still a patient at Johns Hopkins recovering from the major surgery and building back up strength. She will remain in the area alongside her daughter for 2-3 more months as she goes to follow up appointments and is closely monitored by her team. The hope is everything continues to go well and Maribeth will be able to return home around April for the first time since October!

The sudden and critical crash of Maribeth’s health has left her unable to work and on long-term disability. She has been living in a hospital setting for 3 long months receiving an abundant amount of procedures and testing, as well as having the stress of relocating and finding a place to live 8 hours away from home in a foreign city for her daughter, and herself upon release from the hospital. Any support to lessen her financial burden during this difficult journey would be greatly appreciated by herself and her family! Thank you for taking the time to listen to her story.

Family and friends of Maribeth Secrist are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with transplantation for Maribeth.

Maribeth has chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button.

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!