Savannah Rennie: Setting a Good Example for All

What if all of the sudden your life went on hold?

This had happened to Savannah Rennie when she realized she had congenital hepatic fibrosis with portal hypertension. This disease had threatened to kill her life, but it didn’t stop her from thinking about her love for the game of volleyball. This rare disease is a form of polycystic kidney disease, which caused her liver to keep enlarging due to the backup of bile from that organ. Savannah was at the peak of her volleyball career at age 18 playing D1 for the California Bears, when this disease took that away from her. But not for long.

After many visits to the doctors and various hospitals, Savannah and her family found out that a liver transplant was the only option to save her. It was weird realizing someone else's liver will be the thing to determine your fate. Though this did not scare Savannah because all she could think about was getting back on the court! She would help wherever there was a place to, like shagging the volleyballs or keeping score. Then after waiting so many month and not being able to play the sports she loves she found the perfect liver. With this new liver she was back and better than ever! Just after 4 months of recovery she was back on the court as determined as ever. During this whole time of not playing she never lost the fire in her eyes, and is always looking to get things back to where they were, like jumping as high as she used to.

Savannah Rennie is currently back in the action of playing volleyball for the bears and will be playing Arizona on October 14th. On this game, Savannah will be the host of “Be the Match” night, which is an organ donation awareness event, in Savannah’s honor. Savannah “sets” a great example to not let anything “kill” your dreams, and if you put in the hard work you will accomplish great things. Always remember that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.