Our son Benjamin (He goes by Isaac, his middle name) was a perfectly healthy 7 year old boy. Out of nowhere he was diagnosed with acute liver failure on 11/19/2018.  Reason for failure was idiopathic.  That week he was put on the UNOS organ donor status A1 waiting for days for a matching donor. We were running out of time, and Stanford (Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital) agreed to take his case.

We quickly transported Isaac to see if  my husband or I would be a living donor match. Our prayers were answered, and Isaac was blessed with a donor! He received his transplant on 12/03/18.

He recovered well from the procedure, but he did have to get a second procedure because concerns of his bile ducts and liver numbers were not going down.  His doctors performed a Roux-en-Y and created new bile duct flows for him. We are finally back in AZ recovering.

We came across Hearts of Hope Network through website research on how to care for critical illness kids. We believe we have been fortunate to come across and in contact with such a wonderful organization who gets it⁠—who gets how much stress and fear and energy it takes to care for a child that has a critical illness.

Within days of meeting Ted with Hearts of Hope Network via phone, he sent a Tony’s Hugs package that brightened all our faces. Because right now we are home bound to keep Isaac healthy, Isaac and Olivia were excited to receive a package just for them. My husband and I were also touched with the gift that was sent for us. All our effort and focus has been on the kids, so getting something from Hearts of Hope Network was very heart warming, because they get it, and it reminded us that we need to take care of ourselves, too.

We know that Hearts of Hope Network will be with us during Isaac’s journey with whatever we need.

Here at Hearts of Hope Network, every case is different and unique in its own way. We want to always be here to stand with these families in their time of need and beyond. Every donation goes toward supporting these families, and every donor is a part of showing these families that they are NOT alone. 

Be part of our family.

If you are caring for a critically ill child, we want to be with you in your time of need. Click here to apply for aid.

If you would like to be part of making this support happen for others, please consider donating today. Click here to donate.