For Jennifer McBride, Jerry Amussen has been part of her family’s story for nearly a decade.
For Kerri Cronk, he was her father.
In 2017, after Amussen died at 76, his decision to become an organ donor gave McBride a liver and a chance to keep living.
Nearly nine years later, the two families finally came face to face.
The emotional reunion happened at DonorConnect in Murray, where FOX 13 was invited to be part of the special moment.
“It’s like stepping back in time and remembering what was just incredibly hard, Amy, so incredibly hard, it was the hardest time of my life,” Cronk said.
Cronk, FOX 13’s longtime morning news anchor, shared what it was like to lose her father.
“There we were at my dad’s bedside, praying for a miracle and we just wanted more time with my dad…”
Amussen was 76 when he died.
“It was hard when the doctors came in and said that was not going to be possible,” Cronk said through tears. “My world stopped that day.”
The family then learned Amussen had wanted to be an organ donor.
At first, Cronk said, that decision was difficult to process.
“It meant we had to let go of our hope, so that someone else could hold onto theirs.”
For McBride, that hope came after years of declining health.
She was just 30 and a busy mother when she was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, or PSC, a chronic liver disease.
“I tried going back to school for awhile once my oldest got in kindergarten, tried to be a nurse, and I was just too sick.”
Over the next 15 years, McBride’s health continued to decline.
“That last year my husband was pretty much carrying me around, people were trying to help me walk, I was confused. It’s a big ordeal for your body to go through. I was pretty sick before I got the transplant.”
McBride’s sister and sister-in-law both tried to become living donors, but neither was able to donate because of health reasons.
Then came a call to rush to the hospital. A possible match had been found, but the liver ultimately went to someone else.
“Everyone’s like, are you so sad, and I was like no, someone needed it more than I did right then and I knew my time would come and that was a Thursday and then Monday they called me again and I was able to go in.”
That was October 2017.
McBride’s life changed dramatically.
“I owe a lot to Jerry,” McBride said through tears. “That never goes unnoticed or is lost in our family. We’re always so… grateful.”
Since receiving the transplant, McBride has watched her sons graduate, seen her daughters get married and met her grandchildren.
She says those are moments she will never take for granted.
For years, McBride and Cronk communicated through letters, following the official process for connecting organ recipients and donor families.
Then, months ago, they had an unexpected encounter at a local restaurant.
“We felt like maybe we were supposed to meet,” Cronk said.
Cronk had been living in Australia and was only back in Utah for a visit. McBride says she gathered the courage to approach her.
“I had to say your dad is my donor and then it was so neat.”
“It was so incredible,” Cronk said.
McBride says the encounter came at a time when she needed it most.
“It was just a great reminder, from hard things come great things.”
“Yeah,” Cronk said. “That couldn’t be truer than in organ donation because there’s profound grief and profound gratitude and for those feelings to coexist simultaneously.”
“Yeah,” McBride said.
“It’s where heartache meets hope,” Cronk said.
That chance meeting eventually led to their emotional reunion at DonorConnect.
“Jen?”
“Kerri!! HI! Oh my gosh!!!”
The women hugged, cried and laughed as they finally spent time together.
“I’m doing really good. I just went to the doctor and my liver is doing really good, or I should say our liver,” McBride said, laughing.
For Cronk, the reunion was a chance to learn more about the woman whose life was changed by her father’s final gift.
“He kept trying to play, kept trying to live he just was going to beat it, it didn’t turn out that way for him, but I do know Jen that 100 percent if my dad wasn’t able to be here for us and he could help someone else, he absolutely would have wanted that. It makes me happy.”
McBride says Jerry’s name is still spoken regularly by her family, friends and members of her church.
“We don’t ever say my liver donor, Jerry has a name in our family, friends, churchgoers every one who knows about my transplatn they say I’m so grateful for Jerry. Your dad’s name is always being spoken so you know that. He would ike that.”
“He would be humbled,” Cronk said.
“He would be humbled,” McBride said through tears.
For McBride, getting to know Jerry’s family has brought a sense of peace and allowed her to honor the man whose gift changed her life.
“The peace it’s brought me to be connected to your family has been amazing, hasn’t it Devan.”
The two families now share a bond that neither could have imagined nine years ago.
“There is tremendous comfort knowing that part of him lives on in you,” Cronk said.
“Our families are connected forever,” McBride said.
And for Cronk, one part of her father’s legacy stands above the rest.
“I think the thing that I’ve held onto and that meant so much to me is that my dad’s final act was to help someone keep living, and that’s pretty amazing.”