Angie Lucas (Gillian’s Aunt): “This story 🥹🥹🥹. My beautiful niece had a ground-breaking transplant surgery in March to give her a chance at a normal life, after years of debilitating pain and regular hospitalizations for a rare genetic condition.

Her second cousin, Kayla (my cousin’s daughter), who has severe medical challenges of her own, organized a fundraiser for COTA for Gillian’s TPIAT as her senior project—even though the two hadn’t ever met, except maybe when they were babies, since one grew up in Idaho and the other in California and Utah. 

Kayla and the generous community of Grace, Idaho, raised nearly $8,000* (!!!) in cash and online donations for the Children’s Organ Transplant Association in honor of Gillian’s TPIAT (Total Pancreatectomy with Islet Auto-Transplantation).

The day Kayla surprised her with the check, Kayla was about a week out from ankle surgery (and wearing a boot!), and Gillian had just been released from the hospital, where she was being treated for diabetic complications. 

Gillian’s recovery is ongoing, but her time in pain and in the hospital is just a fraction of what it was before the TPIAT procedure, which is so rare that even many hospital staff and providers have never heard of it—and have no idea it’s possible to live without a pancreas! 

I’m so inspired by Kayla and by Gillian. Their courage. Their compassion. Their perseverance. And the difference kindness and generosity can make. 

THANK YOU GRACE, IDAHO! You truly live up to your name. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻”