In March of 2015, our lives changed forever. Our first baby, Beatrice Kelly Weidner, was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia, a rare liver disease at just 2-months-old. We quickly found out that the only cure for her was going to be a liver transplant.
A liver transplant for our baby? Nothing could have ever prepared us for this shocking and life altering news. Before we knew it, Bea was listed with the more than 123,000 others nationwide for a lifesaving transplant and began waiting for her new liver.
The way we understood it, the sicker the child, the higher up on the list they would go. My husband and I would have to sit back and watch Bea’s health deteriorate and her chances for a transplant would increase. Watching our child get sicker was something we weren’t prepared for so we started looking for other options.
After many late night discussions and consultations with our doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, we decided to move forward with testing for living donation. After six weeks of testing, we found out I was a match for Bea.
Cincinnati Children’s quickly sprung into action and scheduled our 10+ hour surgery with sideby- side operating rooms, two surgical staffs, and the top four leading liver surgeons in the country. Having this team surrounding us gave us immense confidence that this surgery would give Bea the healthy life she deserved.
And it did.
On July 7, 2015, Bea got her liver upgrade. Although the road has been bumpy, we are certain that without the care of Cincinnati Children’s, Beatrice would not be here with us today. We now dedicate our lives to raising awareness for the importance of organ & tissue donation and continue to raise money for research for Biliary Atresia at Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital.
#BEAstrong
Hillary, Living Liver Donor & Jordan Weidner
Parents of Beatrice Weidner, Liver Recipient
