Bockover and Phillips Families
Shortly after the inaugural Royal Holly Cares Foundation (RHCF) Golf Tournament in April, RHCF was made aware of a local man, Ryan Bockover, who was struggling with a chronic kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). FSGS is a progressive kidney disease that does not have a cure or a known cause, and ultimately results in the need for dialysis and possibly a transplant. Unfortunately for Ryan, he only had one functioning kidney, which was being attacked by this disease and accelerated the progression and treatment options. After several tests, Ryan was told that a transplant was his only option and he was placed on the National Organ Registry.
By divine appointment, Emily Phillips, a close family friend, offered to get tested to see if she was a donor match, and the results revealed that she was almost a perfect match. God left no doubt in her mind that this was her opportunity to give a gift, equally as precious as that which she received earlier in life. Emily made a promise to God that if He would work in that particular situation, she would forever be grateful and find a way to pay it forward.
RHCF was honored to financially and spiritually assist both the Bockovers and the Phillips during the transplant and recovery of this miraculous, life changing event for two these families.
On May 29, 2018, Ryan and Emily underwent kidney transplant surgery, with the following update reported by KLTV, a local Tyler, TX TV Station:
East Texas man receives new kidney from close friend
By Shelby Trahan | June 2, 2018 at 9:53 PM CDT – Updated August 13 at 11:40 PM
TYLER, TX (KLTV) – A month ago, we brought you the story of a Tyler school raising money for a student’s father who was preparing for kidney transplant surgery.
Well this week Ryan Bockover and his donor Emily Phillips traveled to Dallas where their lives would change forever.
“None of this would’ve been possible without God, because He put Emily and her family in our path for this reason,” Ryan’s wife Somer Bockover said. After 6 years of kidney problems, Ryan Bockover has a new kidney, but most importantly a healthy one. All with the help of his close friend Emily Phillips. “Out of anyone I could give a kidney to, I couldn’t have picked a better family to help,” donor Emily Phillips said.After a four-hour surgery Tuesday morning, Bockover says his new kidney started working immediately but emotions were still running high. “Terrified, happy, sad, elated, because he was getting this gift that was going to save his life, from a friend that didn’t have to do anything,” Somer Bockover said.
But for Ryan, his new kidney is an adjustment.
“Feels a little different, whenever I stand I can feel it moving around and trying to adjust into place,” Ryan Bockover said.
Ryan says he is recovering well, but Emily says she will never stop worrying.
“It’s still a roller coaster for me because every day I’m like ‘is it still okay, is it still okay?'” Phillips said.
But one thing they don’t have to worry about is their children in Whitehouse.
While they both recover in Dallas their fellow Cub Scouts members from den 359 and their families are lending a helping hand by caring for their children.
“I think this is a great representation of what the cub scout program is all about and what it means to us and other families,” Cub Scout mom Joanne Murski said.Emily and the Bockover’s say they never expected to gain an extended family through Cub Scouts.
“There are families that we never really knew really well that are like, ‘what can we do, what can we do, what can we do, we want to do something, we want to help,” Ryan Bockover said.
But no one will ever compare to the Bockover-Phillip family dynamic.
“Our families have grown tremendously, our family grew by eight and theirs grew by four,” Ryan Bockover said.
The children are now even calling each other cousins.
“There’s not a word to describe their relationship other than, their family,” Somer Bockover said.
Emily and the Bockovers will remain in Dallas for the next month recovering and making sure everything is working properly.
The Brandon and Emily Phillips family
The Ryan and Somer Bockover family
