SAN ANTONIO – A CPS Energy employee will get to see her children grow up after receiving a liver transplant that saved her life.
For months, friends and family had been praying for Karen Smith’s health.
“Thought it was something wrong with my lungs. Then (I) found out it was cirrhosis of the liver,” Smith said.
At 42, Smith was in need of a liver transplant quickly. Smith met her friend, Sandy Watson, at a prayer group meeting on June 27, 2004.
“I kissed her on the forehead and told her, ‘You will have a donor soon. I can feel it in my bones,’” Watson said.
That same day, Watson’s son, 25-year-old Jeremy Stephens, died in an accident. When Watson arrived at the hospital, they asked her if her son’s organs could be donated.
On June 29, 2004, Smith received the gift of life from Stephens. Smith was able to share her story with her CPS co-workers with Watson by her side.
“I’m going to see him later. And right now, she gets to watch her kids grow up, so it’s good,” Watson said. “Jeremy is a hero, and everybody has the opportunity to be a hero. It’s in each and every one of us.”