Vic U Alumnus Tells Story of Liver Transplant in New Documentary
Vic U alumnus Fraser Allan Best made a documentary about family, health and receiving a liver from fellow U of T alumnus Robbie Grant. (All photos supplied.)
After graduating from U of T, alumni enjoy many benefits: mentorship, career opportunities, lifelong friendship. For Fraser Allan Best that friendship became invaluable—he received a life-saving donation from his fellow alum and friend Robbie Grant.
Best chronicles his remarkable journey from life-threatening illness to liver transplant and recovery in Thanks for the Liver, his new documentary premiering this month at Toronto's Hot Docs Cinema. Made from more than 300 hours of candid video, it’s a personal film that captures the emotions and challenges of the experience.
“I’m not only in excellent health, but I’ve also achieved a quality of life that I never had before the transplant,” says Best, who earned his honours bachelor of arts degree in 2015 as a member of Victoria College.
Best was diagnosed at birth with glycogen storage disease (GSD) type 1b, which prevented his liver from producing essential sugars the body needs to function between meals. His genetic condition affects fewer than 100 people across Canada.
In 2017, Best worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., and had just accepted an offer for his dream job writing for his favourite magazine when his health started failing. Breathless, fatigued and constantly thirsty, he headed back to Toronto for medical care.
Doctors with the University Health Network ran a battery of tests leading to a stark diagnosis: his liver was throwing his body into chaos. Scans revealed scarring and tumours at high risk of turning into cancer.
Best needed a new liver, or he was going to die. He was only 27 years old.
He turned down the job at the magazine.
Best’s parents volunteered as donors, but they were too old. His sister Kate would have also agreed in a heartbeat, but she too was born with GSD. Another hope dashed.
Enter Best’s future living donor, Robbie Grant, a fellow U of T alum who earned his honours bachelor of arts degree in 2015 as a member of University College.
The pair ran in the same social circles throughout university. After graduation, Grant and Best kindled a strong friendship stoked by debates and the knowledge they gained from past courses in philosophy and political science.
When he learned what his friend Best was going through, Grant didn’t hesitate to volunteer. Weeks later, doctors confirmed Grant’s liver was a perfect match for Best.
“Fraser had a significant risk of death if he didn’t get the organ. For me, if I go through with the surgery, my risk of death is like a fraction of a per cent,” says Grant. “Even long-term serious medical complications from my surgery are extremely rare. It was clearly the right thing to do.”
In August 2020, Grant went under the knife. Doctors removed part of his liver and put it on ice. Grant was stable and going to recover well.
Next, Best underwent a 12-hour surgery.
Initially, the transplant was a success, but Best developed a near-fatal infection that required another emergency surgery. Despite these complications, he was able to go home after just a few weeks.
The transplant cured Best's GSD. He’ll always have to take anti-rejection medication, but his life has forever changed for the better.
“I joke with Robbie that I'm happy to be two per cent him, statistically, because my liver is Robbie’s DNA,” says Best, who met up with Grant and friends this past August to celebrate their five-year “transplantiversary.” They bashed open a liver-shaped piñata.
Grant and Best are both enjoying healthy lives. They’re eager for the premiere of Thanks for the Liver, the culmination of Best’s lifelong dream to become a filmmaker, which all began at U of T a decade before his transplant.
Attending Victoria College’s Vic One program, he enrolled in the Jewison Stream, where he honed his creative storytelling skills and met the course’s namesake, the late Norman Jewison—an Oscar-nominated director and distinguished U of T alum.
“Having that experience was a beautiful thing at that time in my life,” says Best.
“U of T allowed me to find a group of people oriented toward making things creatively. The more I think about it, the road to this documentary really has its roots in that first year at U of T.”
For Grant, the decision to donate has become about much more than saving one friend's life. He hopes the film will have a ripple effect, inspiring people to help others in all kinds of ways.
“We don’t have that many opportunities to do really good things in life—truly noble things,” says Grant, who graduated from U of T’s Faculty of Law in 2020.
“I hope people watching the film think about taking that opportunity to do something meaningful for another human being.”
Thanks for the Liver premieres on Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.
(This article is courtesy of the University of Toronto Faculty of Arts & Science News.)