Amid all the hoopla surrounding the dedication of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, one of the most memorable events took place before a small gathering of about 50 people.
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David Aresty |
The Aresty name might ring a bell. The second floor lounge on the Lied Transplant Center is named after the couple.
“Our love for UNMC began 28 years ago,” Patti Aresty said. “It was love at first sight.”
An executive for a women’s clothing firm headquartered in New Jersey, David Aresty was a unique patient to say the least. He had a bone marrow transplant for lymphoma in 1989 and a liver transplant in 2012 for hepatitis. Sadly, he died in 2013 at the age of 56 due to a heart attack.
The Arestys spent nine months at an Omaha hotel waiting for a donor liver to become available. While they waited, they left an indelible mark on the community.
“There’s no place like UNMC anywhere else. We are addicted to UNMC,” Patti Aresty said, noting that she returns every six months for her own check-ups even though her husband passed 3 ½ years ago.
The Arestys bonded with the UNMC medical staff. They became best friends with arguably the “Mount Rushmore of UNMC clinicians” — Mike Sorrell, M.D., Jim Armitage, M.D., Bud Shaw, M.D., and Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D.
All four turned out for the dedication of the Aresty Family Waiting Area.
Patti Aresty laughed about their first meeting with Dr. Armitage. “David was on the toilet,” she said. “Dr. Armitage walked right in the bathroom. What a guy!”
Dr. Cowan recalled how David “had liver for dinner the night he got the call for his liver transplant.”
He noted that the Aresty Family Waiting Area is where cancer patients will go when they are being discharged. “It’s perfect,” he said. “They’ll know that the Aresty family is looking after them.”
Dr. Sorrell called David “the bravest man I’ve ever known.
“He loved life. He was generous . . . and never wanted anything in return.”
He concluded his remarks by calling David “a mensch.”
It’s a Yiddish term for someone who should be admired and emulated.
“It’s as big a compliment as you can get.”
Inspiring family dedicated to helping other wage their battle against cancer. Thanks.
Thanks TO –you captured this amazing family and their hearts! I've been incredibly blessed by the passion for others, generosity and love of the Aresty clan. I love that picture of David and miss him ….he'd be so proud of how the family continues to give and impact others for good.
Words cannot describe what being even the smallest part of this means to me. MjF