Chris Aring-Sharkovitz heart and liver transplant

At just twenty-five years old, my brother Christopher Aring-Sharkovitz has already overcome more obstacles than many people will face in a lifetime. Now he's facing his biggest challenge yet. In March, he was diagnosed with liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) and cirrhosis. The only way to cure his particular condition is by undergoing an extremely rare and delicate combined heart-liver transplant. Less than 400 have ever been performed in this country.

All this started just hours after Chris's birth, when he was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. A congenital condition that affects just 0.02% of Americans, it means that the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. Children with this condition typically have less than a 1% chance of living past one year.

Chris was one of the lucky ones: he survived three open heart surgeries in the first three years of his life. Against all odds – and despite being one of the oldest surviving people in the country with this condition – Chris has led a relatively healthy, normal, and happy life. He graduated from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School at the top of his class and went on to attend Olin College, one of the premier engineering schools in the country. Following the death of his beloved dad, Dan Sharkovitz, in 2020, Chris returned home to West Tisbury. He took a job working remotely for a biotech company.

While holding down that job full time, Chris recently relocated to San Francisco and began paying his way through a post-baccalaureate program in medicine so that he can enroll in medical school. A tremendously kind, happy, funny, and positive person, he has been especially passionate and excited about this next chapter.

Unfortunately, those plans are now on hold.

A few years ago, doctors discovered that the series of surgeries used to save the lives of children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome eventually cause the liver to fail. That process is now underway. Chris has already undergone two surgeries to slow the growth of cancer and is now on the transplant list for heart and liver donations. He has been admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he will remain until the transplant procedure. That could take weeks or many months – there is simply no way to tell. (To those in the Boston area, please note that Chris is able and eager to receive visitors while awaiting the transplant.)

Once matching donor organs become available, the combined transplant will take 16 to 20 hours, followed by a week in the ICU and a month in the hospital recovering. All told, he could end up being in the hospital for a year.

Even after the transplant, Chris will have a long road to recovery, with the first year being the hardest. He will face a lifetime of major medical care.

Chris will meet this next obstacle the way he has met all others: with self-determination and an unending reserve of optimism. But he needs our help. Your donation will assist Chris with numerous current and future costs, including cancer treatment, pre-transplant tests and imaging, the transplant procedure, and months of intensive care and recovery. Following the transplant, Chris won’t be able to work for several months.

While Chris’s insurance is helping, there are questions about vital aspects of his care that may not be covered and he will likely be left with large remainders. Additionally, his ability to stay on this or another affordable plan may change in the next few months. Medication alone, required to minimize the risk of organ rejection and infection, can be $20,000 per year, every year, for the rest of his life. Your donation also will help assist with travel expenses for his mom, who lives in Ohio, to allow her to stay in Boston while Chris is in the hospital and in recovery.

We understand that times are tough for everyone, and we want you to know that every little bit, and every word of encouragement, counts. Thank you, truly, for your help during this difficult time. It means so much to Chris, his family, and all who love him.