Khara Brown of Newark nearly died two years ago when her intestines ruptured. She needed a transplant, but a doctor reviewed her case and was able to repair the remaining portion of her intestines so she could live a meaningful life.
In July 2016, when a doctor walked into her hospital room to review her unusual case, there weren't any guarantees for Khara Brown, a vibrant 21-year-old Newark woman whose life was upended the year before.
Brown didn't want an intestinal transplant, but needed one after hers was inflamed and ruptured. She nearly died, falling into a coma following surgery. She was temporarily paralyzed and couldn't speak until she rebounded with intense therapy and the strong Christian faith of her upbringing.
Her favorite Scripture, one Brown relies on for assurance, is Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.''
Brown meditated on these words throughout her recovery, she recently recounted to me. Spiritually, she was confident that everything would work out and that she would no longer require intravenous feeding tube for nutrients or use a colostomy bag.
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"I wasn't able to speak at one point, but I was lucky that God could read lips,'' she said.
The transplant, it turns out, wasn't necessary.Dr. Yi-Horng Lee at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital in New Brunswick met several times with Brown and her mother, Pamela Crawford, while she was next door at PSE&G Children's Specialized Hospital regaining her strength and mobility.
Despite the devastating rupture, Brown said, Lee told her that she had enough intestines left to repair and the surgery would improve her life. On Dec. 12, during 12 hours of surgery, Lee reconnected the section of her intestines that absorb nutrients to her bowels.
After the arduous operation, Brown returned triumphantly to her room at Children's Specialized Hospital, where she had become an inspiration to the staff who have seen her progress over the past year.
Tara Helfrich, a therapist, said Brown was positive the entire time, even though it was a scary situation because she knew this procedure was her best chance to live a meaningful life without a transplant.
"She's a miracle and an incredible person,'' said Helfrich, who worked with Brown before and after the surgery. "Khara is such a motivated individual. She put in the hard work, and by the time she left our hospital, she was doing everything on her own. She was able to go out into the community and walk and be strong and prepare her herself to be independent."
Brown is grateful to everyone along the way, but one person in particular she believes deserves special mention: Dr. Leon Dick, the surgeon who first operated on her when her intestines ruptured.
Brown had been at Beth Israel for nearly a year in 2015 under his care in which he performed several procedures to stabilize her condition. She credits him with saving her life and getting her to the next stage in her recovery.
As her strength returned, the hospital allowed Brown to attend a patient safety award program earlier this year at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. She nominated Dick.
When she was transferred to Children's Specialized Hospital, he had stayed in touch with Brown and surprised her with a visit for her 21st birthday last year. It was emotional for him to see her then.
"When she left us, she was still bedridden,'' Dick said. "To see her walking and standing and eating, it was a terrific moment for me.''
Brown surprised him this time, presenting him with the award that she may not have bestowed were it not for him. He saw the pain she endured, and knew her condition was life threatening.
"Numerous times I worried that she might not make it,'' he said. "But I think the strength of her youth, her physical strength and her spiritual strength really pulled her through.''
Brown has been home since April, a return that once seemed far off. Since that surgery went well, she tells me, her hair has grown back and she has regained some of her weight. During our conversation, she was the same confident, effervescent young lady I met last year, and her faith is as strong as I remember.
Brown, now 22, was an active college sophomore at Montclair State University and vice president of an organization that empowered minority women students on campus. She was planning to go to a party Super Bowl weekend in 2015 and thought the upset stomach she had would go away.
It lingered for days. When she started vomiting blood, Brown's mother rushed her to the emergency room at Beth Israel Medical Center and doctors trying to figure out what was going on.
Jeremiah 29:11 would be her shield from then on. "That (Scripture)was the one that really spoke to me because it's like all this stuff that you're going through, you're always wondering why is this all happening,'' Brown said.
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"God already told me - Don't worry about it now. The future is already set.''
She's been away from home for two years, but her mom has been there as the anchor and an example of faith for Brown.
"I had to give up control and let God do what he had to do,''
Crawford said.
Brown is adjusting to life, even though infection and high fever landed her back in the hospital for a week in July. But she's okay.
She must pace herself now, finding that she tires easily if she's out and about for a while. Her feet, because of neuropathic pain, begin to hurt if she's stands too long. Her hands ache sometimes as well.
Getting up and down the stairs takes time. Her diet has changed, too. No leafy vegetables, food she once loved to eat for a person who loves to cook. When she looks in the mirror, Brown said, she is learning to love herself again. The multiple surgeries have left her midsection misshapen, which she believes can be addressed with cosmetic surgery. Underneath a necklace that she wears is small bandage over on her throat. The trachea hole she needed for breathing hasn't closed yet. She's looking into that, too.
As for college, Brown plans to return in about year and resume her studies in anthropology. For now, she's using the time to sort out her life. She's not able to work, so she keeps busy helping others, collecting toiletries for women in a homeless shelter and putting together school supplies in backpacks for young people at her church in Newark.That's Brown, always thinking about others.
When everything happened, she made a video explaining her plight. She's thinking about a blog now, but is not sure what'll it she'll say.
Tell everyone this story all over again, Khara.
The second time around is just as uplifting as the first.
Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or
nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL
A photo of the pizza box in question, according to the owner of Mancini Pizza, who said he has displayed the box in the pizzeria's front window. 
