On Saturday, April 12, more than 130 people will gather in Dunwoody’s Brook Run Park to support the fourth Liver Life Walk Atlanta with the American Liver Foundation and survivor Beth Lehman at the helm.
Lehman, who was recognized as an one of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Everyday Heroes, is a Sandy Springs resident who received a liver transplant in 2021 when hers failed after decades of alcohol abuse.
Lehman was on the transplant list and had been sober for months in preparation for the operation when cancerous tumors were found in her liver. That led to an extended treatment period that weakened her already frail system. Add in other health-threatening conditions like a fractured tailbone, bleeding esophageal veins and an umbilical hernia, and the hope for a lifesaving liver transplant seemed like a distant dream.
Recognizing there are virtually no support groups for people in situations like hers, Lehman has partnered with grassroots efforts and national organizations to tell her story while supporting those living through the diagnosis.
She was an advisor to Sober Livers, an organization she left in December 2024 because it is “well on its way” and “a solid organization,” Lehman said. She has expanded her volunteer work to public speaking engagements.
“So many things happened to me. I got diagnosed with cirrhosis, and I was told I needed a transplant. Then I was told I had cancer, and then I was told I had tuberculosis. Then I broke my tailbone,” Lehman recounted.
Lehman’s goal is to tell her story of survival to liver transplant candidates and their families, proving that recovery is possible. From her Baptist church community to her parents, she’s had a long road of explaining and repairing.
“It wasn’t easy, but I’ve had people come up to me and said, ‘You’ve opened the conversation.’ That’s all I want to do. I just want people to know that it’s going to be okay,” she said. “I feel like everything that I’ve sacrificed – including my family not speaking to me for a while – is finally paying off.”
The Liver Life Walk has registered 130 walkers, but Lehman is hoping to reach 225 walkers and raise $55,000. Atlanta’s walk is one of 20 held by the American Liver Foundation across the country. Registration is still open.
Funds raised through the Liver Life Walk benefit the 100 million Americans affected by liver disease through resources, education and support services and help advance advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill as well as liver disease research, according to the website.
A retiree at age 36, Lehman has been a volunteer for years with Spruill Center for the Arts but engaging with the people she has met on her current journey, she said, is the “most meaningful work of my life that I’ve ever done.”
