Neighbor helps woman in need of liver transplant
By Bill Althaus
The Examiner
Miriam Keith first met her new neighbor, Katlyn Bokhoven, when she lost her new dog, Akira, shortly after moving to Independence last December.
When the puppy ran away, Keith suggested that Bokhoven place some of her clothes in the yard, in hopes the runaway would follow the scent home.
It worked like a charm. But that is far from the most significant role Keith played in the life of Bokhoven, who returned from a recent vacation in Mexico suffering with leg cramps.
Bokhoven was soon moved from hospital to hospital, and last week underwent a liver transplant that was made possible, in part, through hours of time on the phone by Keith, who helped her get insurance under the federal continuation-of-coverage law commonly called COBRA.