An 11-year-old girl with a rare liver disease may get a chance to stave off the fatal condition, thanks to a potentially life-saving offer from a Winnipeg woman she’s never met.
Allexis Siebrecht needs a liver transplant in the next six to 12 months to help her survive biliary atresia, a rare liver disease that can be fatal.
Siebrecht’s family put out a call for help last week, and that call has been answered in the form of crowdfunding donations, well-wishes and, most importantly, the offer of a replacement liver.
Samantha Lussier, 24, says her mother told her Allexis’s story and she felt compelled to help in the most significant way she could: by offering up her liver to save the young girl. Lussier says she was motivated to help because her own mother, Tina, once had liver disease.
“She just jumped at it,” Tina Lussier said. “I was excited that my child would be willing to do such a thing.”
Lussier has already gone through preliminary compatibility checks, and is slated to fly to Toronto on Monday to take the final steps to become a live donor for Siebrecht.
“She’s 11 years old. She has so much life ahead of her,” Lussier told CTV Winnipeg on Wednesday. “If I can give her a piece of me that’s going to grow back, and it’s going to save her life, it’s amazing.”
Allexis says she’s “excited” to have a potential live donor lined up, especially since it means she will also get to fly to Toronto for the surgery.
“I really hope she’s a match because it would make me so happy, because then I can go for a trip,” the Winnipeg girl said.
Allexis’s mother, Liz Siebrecht, said she’s crossing her fingers that it will all work out.
“I’m so excited and hopeful,” Liz Siebrecht said.
A Lussier family friend has already donated two airline tickets to fly Samantha and Tina to Toronto for the surgery. A GoFundMe campaign is also raising money for the Lussiers to stay in Toronto for the one-month recovery period after the surgery.
Any extra money raised will go to Siebrecht’s family.
Biliary atresia is a rare, often fatal condition that occurs at birth in one in every 10,000 to 20,000 infants, the Canadian Liver Foundation says. Those who do survive through infancy tend not to live long without a transplant. However, transplants have a 75-per-cent success rate and can greatly increase the chances of survival.
With files from CTV Winnipeg
