Our Story

As many of you know, Lucy was born with a rare liver disease, biliary atresia, and as a result, her bile ducts never formed properly. She had surgery in June to try to prolong the life of her native liver. Unfortunately, her disease progressed faster than we anticipated and Lucy needs a new liver. 

We are scared, but also very hopeful. We feel fortunate to live in a city where we have access to some of the best pediatric liver specialists and transplant surgeons in the world. We have tremendous confidence in our team, and we believe wholeheartedly they are doing everything in their power to ensure a positive outcome for Lucy. Although it is difficult to even think about transplant on such a tiny baby, it is heartening for us to know that once she has a transplant, she will no longer have the liver disease.

We are also thankful for the wonderful support from family and friends during this time. We know many of you would like to be kept updated, and therefore we have created a Facebook page call “We Love Lucy” that we will use to post updates about Lucy. Please feel free to “like” that page if you would like more “in depth coverage” about Lucy’s journey.

In the meantime, we are taking this time to enjoy every minute with our little superhero. One thing we have learned for sure  is that this girl sure is a fighter. Lucy is the bravest person I have ever met, and despite everything she has gone through, she spends most of her time with a huge grin on her face. We couldn’t be luckier that we get to be parents to the most amazing and fierce little girl.

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.

Lucy McGrath

Chicago, IL

Transplant Type: Liver

Transplant Status: Transplanted

Goal: $50,000.00

Raised: $20,345 of $50,000 goal

Raised by 22 contributors

Recent Contributions

Tom & Laurel McGrath

December 18, 2019

Kevin Lambert

April 01, 2019

Mike and Emily White Vangompel

April 01, 2019

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Photos

Lucy

Posted

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Updates

Lucy is 1 Year Post Transplant!

Posted

We made it... one year since Lucy’s liver transplant- and we have the most amazing little girl! In the past year, Lucy celebrated her first birthday, saw her... Continue Reading »

National Biliary Atresia Awareness Day

Posted

December 1st was National Biliary Atresia Awareness Day! Before Lucy was born, we had never heard of biliary atresia, and we knew about as much about the liver... Continue Reading »

Lucy Celebrates 4 Months Post-Op!

Posted

Lucy was 4 months post transplant on Tuesday! She has been doing incredibly well - growing and turning into a curious and mischievous toddler! We are so incredibly... Continue Reading »

Lucy Keeps Marking Milestones!

Posted

Yesterday was a big milestone for Lucy - we are officially three months post-transplant! Lucy is doing well and her labs are looking great, so we get to... Continue Reading »

Lucy Refuses To Be Held Back!

Posted

44 days post transplant...!! Nothing going to hold me back! #DonateLife Continue Reading »

Lucy Makes Great Progress!

Posted

April 2nd is a big milestone for Lucy- one month post transplant! Her recovery is going well and we are amazed by how much energy she has with... Continue Reading »

Lucy Gets Discharged!

Posted

It’s discharge day!! We are out of here! Next step is Ronald McDonald House for a while, likely a few weeks. Even though we are being discharged, Lucy... Continue Reading »

Lucy Eats a Cupcake!

Posted

Hard to believe Lucy is just a little more than a week post transplant. She has regained so much energy and is back to sitting on her own... Continue Reading »

Lucy Moves On Up!

Posted

Just a week after transplant and Lucy is Moving On Up to the 20th (GI) floor! The view on the 20th floor is similar to the view on... Continue Reading »

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Our Story

As many of you know, Lucy was born with a rare liver disease, biliary atresia, and as a result, her bile ducts never formed properly. She had surgery in June to try to prolong the life of her native liver. Unfortunately, her disease progressed faster than we anticipated and Lucy needs a new liver.  We are scared, but also very hopeful. We feel fortunate to live in a city where...

Continue Reading »

Lucy McGrath

Chicago, IL

Transplant Type: Liver

Transplant Status: Transplanted

Goal: $50,000.00

Raised: $20,345 of $50,000 goal

Raised by 22 contributors

Updates

Lucy is 1 Year Post Transplant!

Posted

We made it... one year since Lucy’s liver transplant- and we have the most amazing little girl! In the past year, Lucy celebrated her first birthday, saw her... Continue Reading »

National Biliary Atresia Awareness Day

Posted

December 1st was National Biliary Atresia Awareness Day! Before Lucy was born, we had never heard of biliary atresia, and we knew about as much about the liver... Continue Reading »

Lucy Celebrates 4 Months Post-Op!

Posted

Lucy was 4 months post transplant on Tuesday! She has been doing incredibly well - growing and turning into a curious and mischievous toddler! We are so incredibly... Continue Reading »

Lucy Keeps Marking Milestones!

Posted

Yesterday was a big milestone for Lucy - we are officially three months post-transplant! Lucy is doing well and her labs are looking great, so we get to... Continue Reading »

Lucy Refuses To Be Held Back!

Posted

44 days post transplant...!! Nothing going to hold me back! #DonateLife Continue Reading »

Lucy Makes Great Progress!

Posted

April 2nd is a big milestone for Lucy- one month post transplant! Her recovery is going well and we are amazed by how much energy she has with... Continue Reading »

Lucy Gets Discharged!

Posted

It’s discharge day!! We are out of here! Next step is Ronald McDonald House for a while, likely a few weeks. Even though we are being discharged, Lucy... Continue Reading »

Lucy Eats a Cupcake!

Posted

Hard to believe Lucy is just a little more than a week post transplant. She has regained so much energy and is back to sitting on her own... Continue Reading »

Lucy Moves On Up!

Posted

Just a week after transplant and Lucy is Moving On Up to the 20th (GI) floor! The view on the 20th floor is similar to the view on... Continue Reading »