COTA for Ethan Strong

Our Story

     Ethan was born a healthy baby boy in October of 2018. In November 2019, at 13 months old, he went into septic shock which caused cardiac arrest, a colostomy, and multiple organ failure. Throughout his journey, we spent the first month of his illness at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, 3.5 hours away from home. We were then medically flown to Omaha, Nebraska, for further treatment.

     During his time at Nebraska Med, he was in the Intestinal Rehab Program and the remainder of his intestines were able to start working again. His liver also improved, healing completely in March 2020. We were discharged from Nebraska Med in February 2020 to continue as out-patient dialysis in Arkansas. 

       In August 2020, Ethan had his Transplant Evaluation as well as his Dad (to be a donor). Dad was a perfect match and donated his kidney to Ethan on November 12th, 2020. One month after transplant, Ethan woke up really sick and was admitted to the hospital. He was going septic again, and required emergency surgery. During his surgery they found a kink at the stoma site (inside) and the options were to remove that part and create a new ostomy site or re-connect his bowels to his colon. We chose to have him reconnected (known as a takedown procedure). He was discharged on New Year’s Eve 2020.

     Since his takedown surgery in December 2020, Ethan has been hospitalized more than 13 times. He is still having GI issues, and as of January 2022 we were finally established with a motility specialist (located in Omaha, NE). We continue to have to take off work and spend money when having to travel from Arkansas to Nebraska for his medical care.

     We have had amazing support from our friends, family and community during this difficult time, and we are so grateful. Thank you all for your continued support.

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.