COTA for Amelia

Our Story

At just 15 years old, Amelia’s life changed almost overnight. On July 23, 2026, Amelia became critically ill and was diagnosed with severe acute liver failure caused by a rare, atypical seronegative autoimmune hepatitis. She was transferred to Cincinnati Children’s, where her condition rapidly became life-threatening. Over the following weeks, Amelia endured more than most people will experience in a lifetime. She developed severe complications including necrotizing pancreatitis, acute kidney failure requiring continuous dialysis, massive ascites requiring repeated surgical procedures, serious infections, blood clots, profound thrombocytopenia, internal bleeding, and thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). At times, her liver failure affected her brain, causing encephalopathy. She required intensive therapies including plasma exchange and several powerful immunosuppressive medications as her medical team desperately tried to save her liver and her life.

There were moments of hope when treatment appeared to be working, but ultimately Amelia’s liver could not recover. She was listed A1, the highest level of urgency for a lifesaving liver transplant. Then came the phone call our family had been praying for: a liver was available. On September 3, 2026, Amelia received her new liver and a second chance at life. Her transplant was not the end of this journey—it was the beginning of an entirely new one. Amelia remains hospitalized and is now facing the difficult process of recovering from months of critical illness, major transplant surgery, and the many complications her body has endured. She will require lifelong transplant care, medications, frequent appointments and monitoring. Through everything, Amelia has shown extraordinary strength. Our family is incredibly grateful for every prayer, every person who has supported Amelia, her remarkable medical team, and especially the donor and donor family whose unimaginable generosity made Amelia’s second chance possible. Funds raised for COTA for Amelia will help with transplant-related expenses throughout Amelia’s recovery and the years ahead, allowing our family to focus on what matters most: helping our girl heal and come home. Amelia’s story is still being written—and because of the gift of organ donation, she now gets the chance to write the next chapter. ❤️🦋

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.