Organ donor saves the life of a young child
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| Jayleeonnah Bou-Silverio and her parents reunite with the medical team at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) that performed the life-saving surgery and the living-liver donor, Elaine Kirksey-Jones, that saved her life. (Contributed photo by Robin Moore, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles) |
By ALEJANDRO CANO
With only weeks, days, or perhaps hours to live, nine-month-old Jayleeonnah Valentine Bou-Silverio’s chances for survival diminished with every second gone by.
Diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease that affects only infants, the baby’s life was hanging on a string and death was imminent without an immediate organ transplant.
But suddenly, a ray of hope appeared and now young Jayleeonnah, a Long Beach resident, is recovering at home after a liver transplant from Fontana resident Elaine Kirksey-Jones, a 39-year-old mother of two who bravely defied the odds of donating in order to save a life.
“Loma Linda and UCLA hospitals refused to accept my organ donation because they said I did not know the patient, but then USC said ‘Yes, absolutely,’ and now a little baby is enjoying life. At first, I felt very frustrated with the system; I could not understand why there were so many obstacles to saving a life,” said Kirksey-Jones. “Thank God the baby is reacting very well; it’s a tedious process, but I would do it again if I could.”
On March 30, Kirksey-Jones and Jayleeonnah met during an emotional reunion, where tears of happiness were shed by both the donor and the recipient’s mom, Susan Bou, at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA).
“Elaine is like a living miracle to us; it takes guts to do what she did, and thanks to her, my daughter is now growing healthier every day,” Bou said. “She is eating a lot and we are just glad to have Elaine in our lives.
“The future seems very bright for us, and it could be as bright for other families if we had more people donating organs.”
Kirksey-Jones said: “It was heartwarming to see a family smiling and holding their baby. It’s very hard to describe my feelings, I only know I feel blessed.”
Bou-Silverio was two months old when doctors gave her a slim chance to live after diagnosing the lethal and rare disease. Infants with biliary atresia trap bile in the liver instead of flowing directly into the gallbladder, thus causing damage and creating diseases like cirrhosis and eventually liver failure.
Biliary atresia has no cure and doctors have few remedies to treat it. One of them is the Kasai procedure, which replaces the blocked passage outside the liver with a portion of the patient’s intestine. In Jayleeonnah’s case, the Kasai procedure was not possible because the biliary atresia had caused severe damage; the only solution was to sign up on the long waiting list for a liver transplant.
The baby’s parents felt powerless when doctors told them they could not donate because their livers were either too strong or too weak. Bou could not help her infant baby because she was underage; once she reached 18, doctors tested her but denied her because she was once again pregnant.
The wait could have caused the baby’s death since currently more than 17,000 patients are registered on the liver transplant waiting list in the United Network for Organ Sharing, said CHLA Surgical Director Dr. Yuri Genyk.
The problem is exacerbated with the low number of donors dying each year, thus forcing doctors to rely on living donors, added Genyk. The liver transplant was one of only 25 performed a year at CHLA.
Kirksey-Jones urged people to sign up as a living donor, saying the satisfaction of knowing it saves lives is priceless.
Nice years ago, Kirksey-Jones donated her right kidney to her uncle. An avid health advocate, Kirksey-Jones donates blood every 56 days and has already signed up on the bone marrow donation list.
“People are either afraid of pain or uneducated about the subject ... or they are just greedy,” said Kirksey-Jones. “For me, being a living donor gave me a very strong satisfaction of knowing I was able to save a life ... it’s the human thing to do.”
Diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease that affects only infants, the baby’s life was hanging on a string and death was imminent without an immediate organ transplant.
But suddenly, a ray of hope appeared and now young Jayleeonnah, a Long Beach resident, is recovering at home after a liver transplant from Fontana resident Elaine Kirksey-Jones, a 39-year-old mother of two who bravely defied the odds of donating in order to save a life.
“Loma Linda and UCLA hospitals refused to accept my organ donation because they said I did not know the patient, but then USC said ‘Yes, absolutely,’ and now a little baby is enjoying life. At first, I felt very frustrated with the system; I could not understand why there were so many obstacles to saving a life,” said Kirksey-Jones. “Thank God the baby is reacting very well; it’s a tedious process, but I would do it again if I could.”
On March 30, Kirksey-Jones and Jayleeonnah met during an emotional reunion, where tears of happiness were shed by both the donor and the recipient’s mom, Susan Bou, at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA).
“Elaine is like a living miracle to us; it takes guts to do what she did, and thanks to her, my daughter is now growing healthier every day,” Bou said. “She is eating a lot and we are just glad to have Elaine in our lives.
“The future seems very bright for us, and it could be as bright for other families if we had more people donating organs.”
Kirksey-Jones said: “It was heartwarming to see a family smiling and holding their baby. It’s very hard to describe my feelings, I only know I feel blessed.”
Bou-Silverio was two months old when doctors gave her a slim chance to live after diagnosing the lethal and rare disease. Infants with biliary atresia trap bile in the liver instead of flowing directly into the gallbladder, thus causing damage and creating diseases like cirrhosis and eventually liver failure.
Biliary atresia has no cure and doctors have few remedies to treat it. One of them is the Kasai procedure, which replaces the blocked passage outside the liver with a portion of the patient’s intestine. In Jayleeonnah’s case, the Kasai procedure was not possible because the biliary atresia had caused severe damage; the only solution was to sign up on the long waiting list for a liver transplant.
The baby’s parents felt powerless when doctors told them they could not donate because their livers were either too strong or too weak. Bou could not help her infant baby because she was underage; once she reached 18, doctors tested her but denied her because she was once again pregnant.
The wait could have caused the baby’s death since currently more than 17,000 patients are registered on the liver transplant waiting list in the United Network for Organ Sharing, said CHLA Surgical Director Dr. Yuri Genyk.
The problem is exacerbated with the low number of donors dying each year, thus forcing doctors to rely on living donors, added Genyk. The liver transplant was one of only 25 performed a year at CHLA.
Kirksey-Jones urged people to sign up as a living donor, saying the satisfaction of knowing it saves lives is priceless.
Nice years ago, Kirksey-Jones donated her right kidney to her uncle. An avid health advocate, Kirksey-Jones donates blood every 56 days and has already signed up on the bone marrow donation list.
“People are either afraid of pain or uneducated about the subject ... or they are just greedy,” said Kirksey-Jones. “For me, being a living donor gave me a very strong satisfaction of knowing I was able to save a life ... it’s the human thing to do.”
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