Thread by @WajahatAli

In the Quran, it says, “Whoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if they saved the life of all humankind.” (Chapter 5: 32) I thought of this when meeting Shawn Zahir, the young man who saved Nusayba’s life by anonymously donating a piece of his liver. 1/

Shawn Zahir and his lovely wife, Rida Fatima, are a Pakistani American Muslim couple in their 20’s. He’s originally from LA and she’s from North Carolina. (She drops many ‘y’alls.’) We had never met them before this week. 2/

Shawn regularly donates blood and has even given bone marrow. His wife, Rida, told me she follows me on Twitter and was keeping up with Nusayba’s journey. She was devastated to read about our search for a new donor. 3/

Shawn, who is wisely not on Twitter, picked up Rida’s phone and clicked on my thread. He turned to his wife and said, “Oh, I’m O blood type. I’ll apply.” Last Friday, we were told there was an anonymous donor and the surgery was scheduled for Tuesday. 4/

Adnan Mohamed, the national political director for Beto O'Rourke, messaged me during the surgery and told me his best friend Shawn had asked for prayers for him and Nusayba. He apologized profusely once he realized Shawn was anonymous. 5/

I told Adnan to give Shawn’s family my contact if they wanted to reach out and that we’d respect their privacy and anonymity. His wife reached out and we fortuitously bumped into each other in the cafeteria when she told us the Twitter story. 6/

We also bumped into Shawn’s surgeon, Doctor Guerra, right after the surgery. He was still anonymous to us at the time. Dr. Guerra, with tears in his eyes, said Shawn’s first question upon waking was, “When can I donate blood again?” 7/

Shawn is recovering well. He is still on fluids so our friends got him some halal bone broth from Whole Foods. His family is amazing and wonderful. He said he wants to raise awareness about being a live donor and giving blood. 8/

Here’s a message from Shawn:

9/

Shawn said he’ll share more about his motivations for donating after he recovers. In the meantime, please do remember him, his family and Nusayba in your prayers and well wishes.

10/

Never forget: There is still much goodness in the world. Most people have the desire and capacity to be decent and kind. A stranger gave his liver and now our daughter has a second chance at life. His name is Shawn Zahir and we owe him our lives.

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