Looking at this photo, you might just see a girl finally seeing daylight after nearly two weeks in a hospital bed.

But if you look closer… you’ll see a zebra 🦓.

“Rare. Not Imaginary.” stitched on her sleeve—a truth she’s been living for years. A rare disease… never imaginary, even when others couldn’t see the battle she fought every single day.

When I look at this photo, I don’t just see recovery…
I see strength.
I see perseverance.
I see a young woman who has endured more than most ever will—and still chose to step into the unknown with courage and hope.

Because this wasn’t just any surgery.
This was a risk.
A leap into something uncertain… with everything on the line.

And now here we are—one week out from a second surgery that made things incredibly touch and go this past week and yet Taylor trusted her team and had faith in her surgeons.

She’s still here.
Still standing.
Still fighting.

Taylor is #174.

Let that sink in.

Out of every child who has undergone TPIAT at Cincinnati Children’s… she is number 174. One of a very small group of warriors who have taken on a surgery this complex, this life-altering.

But it doesn’t stop there…

Taylor is also #27.

Not 127. Not 57.

27.

Only 27 patients have been able to keep their spleen through this entire process… and Taylor is one of them.

That’s not luck.
That’s not coincidence.

That’s strength.
That’s faith.
That’s fight.
That’s her story.

Two numbers—174 and 27—that will forever hold a meaning far deeper than most will ever understand.

Because behind those numbers is a girl…
a warrior…
our zebra… 🦓💜