COTA for Elizabeth's Journey

Our Story

In late September of 2024, our family faced its worse fear – my five-year-old girl’s heart stopped on the school playground for the first time. The school nurse did CPR and used an AED to get her heartbeat back. From there she was stabilized and flown to St. Louis Hospital where she was later diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and a high risk of arrhythmias. Since then, she has had a device placed in her heart to shock her heart if it stops again. She has had a total of 3 cardiac arrests, and three separate hospital stays in 2 very short years and is now waiting on a heart transplant. Any help, including donating to COTA for Elizabeth’s Journey, is more than appreciated, even if it’s just prayers!

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.