In the early 1980s, Dr. Phil Berry, a Dallas surgeon, contracted hepatitis B from a cut in the operating room. As his condition worsened, he needed a liver transplant to stay alive. On October 26, 1987, he received the liver of a 30-year-old woman who had died suddenly of an aneurysm. Dr. Berry was back operating only two months later and has continued operating to this day. He has also become a passionate advocate for donation. While president of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) in 1997, Dr. Berry selected organ donation as TMA's area of focus for the year. He spoke to more than 30 county medical societies about organ donation and all of TMA's doctors signed donor cards that year. Dr. Barry remains one of the longest surviving liver transplant recipients in Texas.

Phil's Story

Three decades ago, in Brazoria, TX, a 30-year-old woman told her family that if anything should happen to her, she wanted her organs to be donated. When she died suddenly of an aneurysm on October 26, 1987, her family honored her wishes, and her liver went to a Dallas man who had been given only weeks to live.

Dr. Phil Berry was a Dallas surgeon who, in the early 1980s, contracted hepatitis B from a cut in the operating room. As his condition worsened and his liver began to fail, he consulted a fellow surgeon who told him that without a liver transplant, Dr. Berry would die.

"As an orthopedic surgeon, I can fix a bad knee or a broken wrist in an hour or two," Dr. Berry said. "I told my transplant surgeon, 'Let's just fix it.' He said, 'It's not that simple. First, we have to put you on the transplant list.'"

After several weeks on the list, Dr. Berry got the call that a matching liver was on its way. With mixed emotions, Dr. Berry and his family prepared for the transplant knowing that another family was grieving an unbearable loss.

Since his transplant, Dr. Barry has walked two of his three daughters down the aisle and plays with his eight grandchildren. He has met his donor's family and they are in touch often. Dr. Berry was back operating only two months after his transplant. For the past 27 years and to this day, he continues to perform life-changing surgeries, enhancing the lives of thousands of patients.

Dr. Berry has also become a passionate advocate for donation. As president of the Texas Medical Association in 1997, Dr. Berry selected organ donation as TMA's area of focus for the year. "I spoke to 30 or 40 county medical societies about organ donation and what it means to families," Dr. Berry explained. "All of our doctors signed donor cards that year."

Dr. Berry and another transplant recipient started a fundraising golf tournament and foundation which has paid out nearly $1 million to date to help transplant recipients with costs not covered by insurance.

To Dr. Berry, the essence of donation is seeing something good come from tragedy. While many chapters of his life have been shaped by his transplant, the true legacy of his donor is still being written in the lives of the thousands of people touched by her extraordinary gift. He remains one of the longest surviving liver transplant recipients in Texas.