Our Story – COTA for Lawson R

With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant families are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-related expenses. In the two small, southern Indiana towns of Washington and Loogootee, volunteers are raising funds for COTA in honor of transplant patients like their local toddler, Lawson Riley.

Lawson is the son of Megan and Brian Riley from Washington, Indiana. He was born in 2016 at about 27 weeks gestation and less than 2 pounds. Lawson battled NEC and had 99% of his intestines removed, leaving him diagnosed with Short Bowel Syndrome. The doctors at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana, recommended a life-saving multivisceral transplant of his stomach, pancreas, small intestines, liver and colon. Lawson received his transplant on Jun 8th 2017. Although he seems to be adjusting well, he and his family still have a long road ahead of them. An estimated $40,000 is being raised by volunteers with proceeds benefiting COTA in honor of Lawson to assist with transplant-related expenses.