Rebecca Marie Burns, daughter of Jacob and Betsy Burns was born on February 26th, 2004.  At a routine 3 year well-checkup it was noted that Rebecca’s stomach was still distended.  A bit of a tummy is an attribute very common for babies, but it became a trigger of concern for an otherwise healthy growing toddler with an overall slender body type.  After running some blood work, Rebecca was immediately scheduled for a liver biopsy, because her liver enzyme levels were found to be abnormal.  The results of the liver biopsy showed Rebecca had severe cirrhosis of the liver and after months of bloodwork and extensive testing, Rebecca was diagnosed with, and immediately treated for, Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis (PFIC3).  

PFIC3 is a rare genetic liver disease caused by a protein mutation where excess bile acid is stored in the liver and burns it causing scar tissue (cirrhosis) and subsequent complications.  After treatment started, her parents were told the disease would be slowed, but not stopped.  They were informed that Rebecca would continue to accumulate complications as she aged, and one day her body would reach a breaking point and she would go into liver failure.  Rough estimates were that Becca’s liver would fail in her early twenties, but in mid-2017 at the age of 13, Rebecca’s bloodwork started to decline and she went into liver failure that fall.  In July of 2018 at the Rascal Flats Surgery Center in Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, TN, Rebecca was the recipient of a successful liver transplant. 

Rebecca has always been a quiet and gentle child, intelligent and creatively expressive.  From and early age she dove headfirst into books and found that as her imagination grew and her experiences accumulated, art was a way for her to express herself, escape, and create.  Emerging herself in drawing, Rebecca has big dreams of where her art will take her in her life.  She has experienced so much in her young age, and thanks to the beautiful gift of her liver transplant, Rebecca now looks forward to a long life of new experiences and chasing dreams. 

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support.  COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults.  100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses.  COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.