In Sickness and In Health

July 2024

In 2019, Kevin Jacques wanted his proposal to his then-girlfriend Amanda Meyer to be a surprise and thought a spot 1,500 miles away would be less likely to give away his plans.

He decided on Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine. His family owns a lake house nearby, and a summer vacation was just the cover he needed.

Kevin, Amanda and his then-7-year-old daughter, Allison, went on a horse-drawn carriage ride through the park, and when they stopped to take a closer look at a historical cobblestone bridge, Amanda was surprised to discover the path beneath it lined with pink rose pedals and hearts drawn in the sand.

“I was so sure it was meant for someone else,” Amanda said. Then she spotted someone hiding in the bushes with a camera to capture the moment.

“I turned around, and Kevin was on one knee. I said, ‘Shut up.’ I thought he was joking,” she said.

Amanda said yes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The romantic proposal was very different than how the Tallahassee couple’s love story began two years earlier in the summer of 2017, when they met on a dating app and discovered they lived less than a mile apart.

“On our first date, Kevin showed me his scar from his liver resection and told me he had an autoimmune disease,” Amanda said. “As the saying goes, it’s either a great experience or a great story.”

Kevin, who was learning to live with primary sclerosing cholangitis or PSC, was up front with Amanda about his chronic liver disease. He told her that he would eventually need a liver transplant, but it would likely be years down the road.

“Like in his mid-forties,” Amanda said.

A few weeks after the couple started dating, Kevin’s condition worsened. At first, Amanda did not completely understand what Kevin was going through, but she began to see firsthand how it affected his day-to-day life.

“As we were dating, he was becoming more tired, and his eyes started turning yellow,” Amanda said. “Kevin’s very honest about everything, so he’s doing lab work and telling me what the scores mean. They kept going up, up, up, which meant he might need a liver transplant sooner rather than later.”

By Christmas of 2017, Kevin and Amanda’s affection for each other was obvious – so was his declining health. They spent more time visiting doctors than going on dates. Neither of them knew what to expect, only that they were in love.

“We were both adults with careers at this point.  It wasn’t a silly fling, and we both knew that,” Amanda said.   She taught second-graders at Canopy Oaks Elementary School at the time, and Kevin worked at a recycling plant.

In March of 2018, their devotion was tested when Kevin was suddenly diagnosed with liver failure. So alarming were the results of his blood tests done at a local hospital that Kevin was taken by ambulance to UF Health Shands Hospital. Amanda made the two-hour trip from Tallahassee to Gainesville with him.

“Of course, Amanda and I had no clue what was to come. We honestly thought they would get my labs looking better and send me on my way,” Kevin said.  “The next morning, I was told I would be there until I get a transplant.”

Kevin needed a liver transplant to survive, and he needed it right away.

“I was definitely on death’s door,” Kevin recalled.

On March 18, 2018, Kevin was gifted a new liver at UF Health Shands Hospital. He was 28 years old.

By then, Kevin and Amanda were in love.

“I never thought about not staying around. It just never seemed like an option that I was willing to entertain,” she said. “Even when Kevin was told to go to Shands because he was being admitted, I was like, ‘OK, I’ll go home and pack my bag.’”

Kevin’s life had been in a state of limbo for some time. Now with a liver transplant behind him and Amanda by his side, hope began to reshape his imagination.

“I had a feeling Amanda was the one shortly after we met. She was there after the transplant, no questions asked. That kind of solidified it for me,” Kevin said. “She always showed that she cared about me and was supportive of my decisions about everything.”

On the day Kevin was discharged from the hospital, Amanda asked him, “My house or your mom’s?”

It was the moment of truth.

“He said, ‘I’m going to Amanda’s.’  It was unconventional, but it made sense,” she said.

Amanda lived with her elderly grandmother at the time, so she could help care for her. Now there would be three of them – Kevin, Amanda and her grandmother – sharing the home together.

Not your typical roommates.

“I think Amanda’s just as crazy as I am, so it works out,” Kevin said, lightheartedly.

Amanda acknowledged she was a bit nervous about Kevin moving in at first. An organ transplant is major surgery and caregivers play a crucial role.

“The tipping point was when we were at the hospital, and they talked about what care would be like when he went home,” Amanda said. “Are there dogs? Are there cats? Are there stairs?”

For Kevin, there was never a doubt.

“My stay at Shands was great,” Kevin said. “One thing that we were really impressed with is how much time they spent with Amanda to make sure she was ready to take on the role of caretaker.”

Ultimately, the decision to move in together brought Kevin and Amanda closer together. They will celebrate their four-year wedding anniversary on November 21, 2024.

Thanks to a heroic organ donor the Jacques family is now a party of five with the arrival of Lucie Luveina, 1, and Clint, 2. Kevin’s daughter, Allison, is now 13 years old. The family recently settled into a larger home of their own.

“I always wanted more than just one kid. I came from a big family,” Kevin said. “I really didn’t expect that our life would be where it is now. I would never have thought that I’d be here.”

Amanda agreed, wholeheartedly.

“It’s way better than what I thought it would be like all those years ago,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy we are where we are, in this home with these beautiful children. I think we are very blessed, and we know it.”

To accommodate their life together, Kevin and Amanda changed jobs. Amanda works as an ATAC swim coach, so she can spend more time with the kids. Kevin found balance and happiness working at the City of Tallahassee’s Sam ‘O Purdom Generating station in St. Marks, Fla., where he is surrounded by a community of caring co-workers.

To show their support during National Donate Life Month in April, the plant’s employees decorated their offices, set up a table, hosted a luncheon, flew a Donate Life flag, and lit up in blue and green for the annual Let Your Light Shine Campaign. They also raised a $750 contribution to LifeQuest and entered the Donate Life America National Blue and Green Day Photo Contest – and won!

Their support means everything to Kevin and Amanda, both of whom share about organ donation at high schools, hospitals and community events.

“I’m proud of it. If I can work it into a conversation, I try to,” Kevin said. He would like to meet his donor family someday.

“I don’t know anything about my donor,” Kevin said.  “I have written multiple letters, along with letters from Amanda, Allison, my mom, and siblings.  We are so grateful for my donor, and we wish we could tell them just how grateful we are.”

(By Kim Gilmore, Sr. Public Education Coordinator)