Breanna Sipple was browsing Facebook one day when by chance she stumbled upon a desperate message. The post described a woman in dire need. Sipple was overcome with emotion as she read about the heart-breaking situation. And what’s more, she knew immediately that she had to do something to help.
It was back in 2016 when Breanna Sipple saw that desperate Facebook message. It’d been made by a loving husband about his wife, and it would have quite an effect on Sipple. An instant and powerful effect, in fact. One that would literally reduce her to tears.
As tears dripped down her cheeks, Sipple realized something astonishing – something that must have stopped her dead in her tracks. The Warrington, Pennsylvania, resident recognized just how keen she was to help this person – someone she’d never even met – and that she’d be willing to embark on a remarkable personal transformation as a result.
That transformation would be one that she’d never previously envisaged herself undergoing. It ultimately led to Sipple making an astonishing sacrifice for the stranger whose story had made her feel so compelled to help. And it also saw her put forward a heart-warming and inspiring message to the world.
Our story’s chief protagonist, Breanna Sipple, was born in Pine Hill, New Jersey, back in the mid-1990s. The budding artist attended Camden County College in her home state, where she studied fine and studio arts. Sipple graduated in 2014, and her talent ensured she left with an associate of arts degree.
Sipple then went on to study for her Bachelor of Arts at Rutgers University – Camden, which is also in the Garden State. The New Jersey native would earn a cum laude grade in fine and studio arts at Rutgers, and she later served as the art director of The Scarlet Review there.
While she was studying for her college and university degrees, Sipple worked part-time as an office secretary. She also began to find work in her desired field, serving as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer at Moon Jump Press.
Then, in July 2016 Sipple landed a full-time job as a visual and graphic designer at Rastelli Market Fresh. By this time she was living across the Delaware River in Warrington, Pennsylvania. And it was in that same year that she’d come across the desperate Facebook message written by a young man named Richard Francis.
Yes, Rich Francis would set up a despairing Facebook page for his wife Erin, whom he’d recently wed in May 2016. It was titled the Erin Francis Kidney Donor page. You see, Francis’s then 24-year-old wife had suffered serious kidney problems soon after they tied the knot and was in dire need of a donor.
Erin was understandably reluctant to have her personal health problems shared so publicly on social media, but her hubby insisted that it was necessary. The situation was getting increasingly urgent, with his wife having to endure daily dialysis just to remain alive. So time was clearly of the essence. Anything was worth a try.
But there were no encouraging calls from Erin’s doctors regarding suitable donors. And though there have been significant developments in organ donation and transplantation in recent decades, they remain complicated and difficult processes. Issues range from organ shortages (which are a problem across the globe) to potential harm to the donor, as well as organ rejection and finding a matching blood type.
Anyway, despite Erin being just 24 years of age, her life was in serious danger of coming to a premature end. So her husband wrote that desperate Facebook post in the hope that someone suitable would step forward and save the love of his life. And unbeknownst to the newlywed couple, a complete stranger from just across town had discovered the social media message and decided to take action.
Like the person who’d read her husband’s heartfelt post, Erin Francis was also born in the mid-1990s. In fact, the two strangers living in the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania are the same age. Anyway, in the first four years of her life, Erin would suffer from a bout of a strange disease called Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP).
HSP’s a condition that disturbs the blood vessels, leading to a red rash on the body that looks a little similar to the ones caused by measles or meningitis. But unlike those two diseases, it’s not contagious. And more often than not, it isn’t a significant health risk and clears up in a week or two.
But HSP can occasionally lead to very serious issues with the kidneys. And when she was just four years old, Erin’s parents were given some dreadful news. Their young daughter had indeed developed chronic kidney disease after her bout of HSP. It must’ve been a heartbreaking moment.
Erin would soldier on through her life while enduring continuous issues with her kidneys. After school, she attended the Empire Beauty School in Warminster, PA, and then found work at Huntingdon Valley’s Taire Hair Salon. Erin was initially an assistant and later became a colorist.
But after years of health struggles, Erin received some terrible news in 2016. Her long-term doctor – who’d been with Erin since the very start of her long battle with chronic kidney disease – had to tell the 24-year-old that her condition had reached stage five. It was a matter of urgency, then, that Erin was put on the transplant list and a suitable donor found quickly.
Erin’s existence soon became dominated by her medical treatment, as well as the hope of receiving a phone call telling her that a suitable kidney donor had been found. That of course leads us back to Rich Francis’s Facebook post – and Breanna Sipple’s discovery of it.
Upon reading Francis’ message and getting emotional, Sipple decided to act. “When I saw Erin’s story, I was overwhelmed,” Sipple later told Jefferson Medical College. “She was my age! I couldn’t imagine being so sick and in need of an organ to save my life. I just felt like I was supposed to do something.”
And Sipple did do something. She soon discovered that she had the same blood type as Erin and signed up to discover whether she’d be a suitable candidate for a live donor. The New Jersey native decided not to inform the stranger she was trying to help yet, though, as she was wary of giving Erin false hope.
Sipple also decided to chronicle her course towards potentially being a live organ donor. She wanted to show the public how vital the process is. “A lot of people don’t make it past the point of fear,” she explained. “And I wanted to get the message out that it’s OK to be scared – you can still do it.”
But Sipple would then suffer a major setback in her quest to be Erin’s donor. Half a year into the process, she’d be informed that blood pressure issues rendered her unsuitable. Though she was crestfallen, she still decided to complete her “Be More” video-blog. Sipple hoped that that someone would see it and be motivated to take her place, or even just pray for Erin.
And unbeknownst to Sipple, a pal of Erin’s had seen the video-blog and informed her about Sipple’s actions. Erin then sat down to watch the videos and was astonished. “I couldn’t believe it,” Erin recalled. “She cared so much, and she didn’t even know me!”
After being floored by Sipple’s efforts, Erin decided to contact her. And following several months of communication, the pair would finally meet in person during a donor event. And the pair immediately hit it off, becoming inseparable. Sipple later called it an “indescribable bond.” How sweet!
Sipple wasn’t about to give up on her dream of being her new bestie’s live donor, either. Erin’s mom had heard of another facility that had a stellar track record of delivering kidney transplants. So the pair decided to enlist in the donor testing program at the Jefferson Nicoletti Kidney Transplant Center.
Erin was quickly placed on the Jefferson Nicoletti’s transplant list and Sipple applied once again to be a donor. The pair began the rigorous testing process almost immediately, and this time it all went to plan. As it turned out, Sipple had never actually had high blood pressure – it was “white coat hypertension” that she’d suffered during her earlier tests.
Essentially, that’s increased blood pressure due to personal anxiety at the time. Which is totally understandable, given what she was there for. Sipple later told WPVI-TV/6abc, “Every time I would get my blood pressure checked in a hospital setting, it was obviously high because I’d never been in the hospital or had surgery, so I was super-nervous.”
With this news, almost miraculously the increasingly close pair were preparing to undergo surgery in less than a month. The date set was September 12, 2017. The road there had been far from easy, of course. In fact, it’d been something of an emotional rollercoaster for the pair of them. But they’d got there in the end – and it was time for the procedure.
The surgery at the Jefferson Nicoletti Kidney Transplant Center was successful. Sipple was officially Erin’s donor, having selflessly given one of her kidneys to her friend. The day after, the kind-hearted New Jersey native summoned enough strength post-op to wander into Erin’s room to share an emotional hug.
But Erin and Sipple were under no illusions as to how challenging the next few months, perhaps even years, would be. So within weeks of the surgery, they co-founded the Be More Foundation. It’s a non-profit aimed at inspiring others to follow Sipple’s lead and donate organs to those in need, or to undertake similar selfless acts of kindness in everyday life.
After the successful operation, the pair would also take to Instagram to provide an update to anyone who’d followed their remarkable and growing story. “Our journey has just begun,” they noted. And they shared a heartwarming message: “We have so much more heart and encouragement to share in this world.”
Through the Be More Foundation – and in particular its Team Be More Instagram page – Sipple and Erin are making good on that promise. The latter provides an online meeting place for people who’ve gotten transplants or are searching for a donor. It also attracts and inspires those looking to perhaps follow Sipple’s lead in the future.
So, what about Erin’s recovery? Well, Sipple took to the Be More page to provide an update a few months after the surgery. She wrote, “By the glory of God, on September 12th, 2017, we had a successful surgery and my kidney began working for Erin immediately! We are now 5 months post-transplant. Every day is a gift, and an opportunity to BE MORE!”
In fact, Sipple and Erin have provided semi-regular updates on their situation and have marked anniversaries of the 2017 operation ever since. Like on September 12, 2019, when the pair uploaded a photo of themselves together on a bridge beside some balloons, one of which was a gold number two.
Alongside the image, Sipple wrote “two years ago our lives changed forever” before describing in great detail the day of reckoning. “We did it!” she added. “I’ll never forget the moment I walked to see Erin the day after surgery. It was a memory that I’ll cherish until the day I die. Love you so much, kidney sister. Cheers to two years dialysis free.”
For her part, Erin remains in awe of Sipple and her astonishing altruism. “It was the most selfless thing anyone could do for another person,” she told the Jefferson Medical Center media team. “She’s my hero.” Erin also spoke to WPVI about Sipple’s video-blogged quest to be her donor, saying, “Even today, I think about it all the time. I can’t believe someone actually wanted to do that for me.”
The religiously minded Sipple has pointed to God’s influence in bringing her to the aid of the stricken Erin. On Instagram she described the moment she first read Rich Francis’ Facebook post, stating that “an indescribable feeling came over my body (truly a sign from God) that told me I am this complete stranger’s donor.”
Sipple added, “When I found out I was even just her blood type I sobbed uncontrollably, I knew God had big plans for me.” Whether it was the Almighty or not that brought them together, there’s no doubt that there seems to be a remarkable sense of fate to the whole situation between Sipple and Erin.
A few years on from the successful operation, Sipple and Erin have achieved a level of fame. Just over a month after the three-year anniversary of their ops, the pair appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show to explain their astonishing story. Also on set that day was Modern Family star Sarah Hyland, who’s had two kidney transplants herself.
Towards the end of their chat, Ellen revealed that she’d “talked to some friends at Shutterfly” and duly presented the pair with a check totaling $10,000 to support their Be More Foundation. And that wasn’t all, as Hyland also declared she had friends at Shutterfly and got her own $10,000 check from behind her chair. The unexpected gifts were a more than deserved boost for two special human beings who’re leading their organization by example. Bravo!