Family Life

11.29.10 | Sarah Harnisch

 How do you comfort someone who is alive because someone else gave their own life?
     Ryan Arnold was 34 years old, a father of 3 young boys. Last August, he found out that he was a perfect match for his brother Chad, who needed a liver transplant. So he gave 60 percent of his liver. 4 days later, Ryan died.
       In decades of doing the surgery, only 3 donors have been known to die. Chad Arnold is a Compassion International employee. He said hours after his brother passed away, the president of compassion came into his hotel room-- and told him "I've held my friends in my hands as they died of malaria while I had a vaccine. And I've learned how to suffer. Now, you know how to suffer." He urged him to take his pain and use it to help others outside his own family. We have a photo of Ryan Arnold and his family here. If you'd like to donate to a memorial fund set aside for his boys, you'll also find that on the link.