'Because of him I'm here': Liver from frat hazing victim saves recovering alcoholic's life
Two Ohio families are forever connected through the gift of organ donation, though in an unusual way.
The organ donor died because of alcohol poisoning as a result of hazing.
The recipient needed a new liver after years of damage from alcohol abuse.
But the parents of Stone Foltz, a 20-year-old Bowling Green State University student who died in 2021 from a college hazing incident, said they were just grateful their son’s liver could help 57-year-old Scott Herold of Wadsworth continue to live and make new memories with his family.
More:Bowling Green State University settles hazing suit with Stone Foltz's family for record $2.9M
“It didn’t faze me one bit,” said Shari Foltz of learning that Herold was a recovering alcoholic.
“We look at it as Stone being a hero,” she said.
After corresponding for about a year, Herold and the Foltz family met recently outside of Columbus at the high school where Stone Foltz graduated.
Herold was honest in sharing his alcoholic past when the families met.
“It’s part of my past. I can’t just dust that off. It is what it is. I accept it. Am I proud of it? No, but I’m not going to hide from it,” Herold said.
He was appreciative the Foltzes held nothing against him and were happy he was alive.
What happened to Stone Foltz?
Foltz, a 20-year-old sophomore, died of alcohol intoxication in March 2021, three days after he reportedly drank a liter of bourbon in an estimated 20 minutes during a college fraternity hazing event.
Stone's death reignited a push at the Ohio Statehouse to pass Collin's Law: Ohio's Anti-Hazing Act, which, among other things, made Ohio the 11th U.S. state to make hazing a felony.
Eight of Stone's former fraternity brothers were criminally charged and last month, the Foltz family settled a lawsuit with Bowling Green State University for $2.9 million.
The Foltzes run the iamstonefoltz Foundation, which they founded in Stone's memory to help educate high school students on the dangers of hazing and alcohol abuse.
Scott Herold’s path to a liver transplant
Herold is not proud of his past.
As an adult, he said he started out as a "mild drinker" and then turned into an alcoholic.
"I got a divorce and ... it kind of amped up,” said Herold, who raised his two children, who are now adults, with his ex-wife in Green before moving to Wadsworth about four years ago.
The alcoholism hit a crescendo when Herold had four trips to the hospital within a short period of time related to his drinking.
“The last time I was in there, the doctor basically said: ‘You’re an adult. I can’t tell you what to do. I recommend you stop drinking, but if you’re going to continue to drink, go home, get your affairs together, if you have problems with anybody, make your amends and say your goodbyes. I’ll see you in the morgue at the end of the year,’ ” Herold recalled.
“I left the hospital on a Sunday, and I was in rehab by Wednesday,” he said.
That was four years ago.
About two years passed without any medical issues. Herold’s doctor watched his liver for damage from his years of drinking.
He became very ill in February 2021 and was in and out of the hospital. He was found unresponsive and eventually was transferred to Cleveland Clinic’s main campus in Cleveland. There, he was placed on the liver transplant list because of the severity of the condition of his liver.
Within days, Herold received a call about a liver match. He underwent a 13-hour overnight surgery, complicated by an infection in his stomach.
Besides having one incident of mild rejection, which was resolved, he's had no issues.
Stone’s organs helped more than 130 lives
When Stone got his driver’s license at 16, he wanted to be an organ donor “without hesitation,” said his mom, Shari.
When he died, Stone was put back on a ventilator so his organs could be assessed for organ donation. The family felt those extra three days with Stone were a gift, said his father, Cory.
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Stone’s donation has helped more than 130 people. The family has limited details:
His heart went to a woman in her 20s in the northeastern portion of the U.S.
His lungs were donated to a male in his 50s.
His left kidney went to a teen in Ashland, and his right kidney to a preteen girl.
His corneas were donated to an unknown recipient.
His tissue helped more than 125 individuals.
And his liver went to Scott Herold.
“He’s a hero,” Stone's mother said. “He was always the one who was there for anybody who needed someone.”
He deeply cared for his younger brother and sister, she said.
The family heard from several former high school classmates after his death, including a girl who said he stood up for her when she was being bullied and saved her life because she was considering suicide.
Stone’s organs now live on in others so they can create new memories with their loved ones, said Cory Foltz.
“You never fill the hole in our heart,” he said.
However, hearing stories like Herold’s daughter being grateful he is alive to one day walk her down the aisle “is just exciting for us,” he said.
Donor's family and liver recipient connect
The Foltzes wrote letters to the organ recipients and sent them about six months after Stone died through the organization that coordinated the transplants. Donor families and recipients can choose to correspond directly after the initial letters.
But the initial letters cannot have much personal information in them, including full names or circumstances.
The family first heard from the mother of a 16-year-old girl named Ashley in Ashland who received Stone’s right kidney. After some correspondence, they met her in June.
More:From the heart: Transplant recipient now helps grieving families give gift of life
It took Herold some time to know what to say in his card. He kept it simple, thanking them for the gift of life and sending his condolences.
A few hours after he told his transplant coordinator that he sent his card, he heard the family had also sent a card.
When Herold received the card, it took him 15 minutes to get the courage to open it up.
“I read it and had tears,” said Herold. The card only said the young man had decided to donate his organs when he was 16. It was signed Shari and Cory with no last name.
Herold figured their first names were unique enough, so searched online for “Shari, Cory, son” and saw all of the coverage about Stone’s death. Herold had not been familiar with the case because he was in the hospital at the time, but his sister knew about it.
Reading about the circumstances of Stone’s death and being a recovering alcoholic himself was “a tough one,” Herold acknowledged.
After the initial cards, Herold and Shari began corresponding via Facebook in December 2021. A year later, they began talking about meeting.
They met on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“They just opened their arms,” Herold said of the meeting.
More:From the heart: Families forever tied by little girl’s gift of organs
Moving forward with new liver
While Herold’s liver was damaged due to cirrhosis and years of alcohol use, he was told Stone’s liver was in pristine condition. Although Stone died of alcohol poisoning, it did not have time to affect his liver, his family said.
Herold’s new liver is doing well, though he is in need of a kidney transplant and will be starting dialysis soon. His daughter is getting tested in hopes of donating.
Herold looks forward to continuing a relationship with the Foltzes.
He recently sent them some blue roses since Stone’s favorite color was blue. Herold and his family also plan to volunteer at an annual basketball fundraiser for the foundation in November.
Herold keeps a picture of Stone that Shari gave him on his nightstand. It's the first thing he looks at every morning.
"It's because of him I'm here," Herold said.
'Desperate' to meet other organ recipients
Herold said he had some survivor’s guilt meeting Stone’s family.
Shari said they've been told that might be why other recipients haven’t yet reached out. But the family wants the recipients to know they shouldn’t feel guilty.
“They have our son’s organs. We want to know they’re doing OK,” she said. "We’re desperate."
Added Cory: “Please don’t have any guilt. Reach back out to us.”
The family wants to hear from all recipients but are especially hopeful to connect with the woman who received their son's heart.
“It’s his heart and to be able to hear it beating, it would mean everything,” she said.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ. To see her most recent stories and columns, go to www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Recovering alcoholic grateful for liver donation from hazing victim
