By “She’s very sick,” the social worker said as she cradled the 4-month-old baby girl with a distended belly and yellow eyes. “May I hold her?” asked Amber Herring, a Tiffin, Iowa, foster mom.
Amber’s newest foster child, Daylea, was born with biliary atresia, and her liver was failing.
“Corrective surgery didn’t help…her only hope is a new liver, but she’s too sick for the surgery,” the doctors said. Amber was horrified when they added, “It will be a miracle if she makes it to her first birthday.” Amber prayed for that miracle, and to her amazement, Daylea’s condition stabilized and began to improve.
But over the next three years, the child continued to struggle, constantly going in and out of the hospital. “Please, God, help her overcome this,” Amber prayed, pacing the ER waiting room yet again.
At 3 ½ years old, Daylea was finally strong enough to go on the donor waiting list. And when her birth parents’ rights were terminated, Amber formally adopted her.
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Amber registered Daylea with a second, out-of-state transplant center in Milwaukee. I’ve doubled her chances, she hoped.
A year later, the Milwaukee hospital called late one night, “We have a matching donor liver—how soon can you be here?”
Amber, her dad and Daylea drove through the night, and by early evening, the 4 ½-year-old was being wheeled toward the operating room.
“The transplant went well, but we need to keep her sedated for a few days,” the surgeon reported, 12 hours later.
Amber kept a constant vigil at Daylea’s ICU bedside, and on the third day, she spotted her arm move, her eyes slid open…and all the yellow was gone! And then she smiled.
For the first time in her short life, Daylea felt happy, energetic and well while recovering at the local Ronald McDonald House. Back home in Iowa, she soon started dance lessons, excelled in school and truly began her happy, full life.
A full-circle miracle
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As Daylea’s 13th birthday approached, Amber’s gratitude never wavered. She fostered another dozen kids and adopted two more. She also had a child of her own, but she never forgot the precious gift she and Daylea had received. How can I ever repay such a blessing? Amber wondered.
She soon discovered the perfect way to pay it forward. “Daylea’s anti-rejection medicines strain her kidneys, so one day she’ll also need a kidney transplant,” the doctor explained. Amber and Daylea had different blood types—Amber couldn’t give her one of her kidneys. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be somebody else’s living donor. Amber filled out the forms to become a living kidney donor and was approved.
“Do you have someone in mind?” the coordinator asked. How could I pick just one person? Amber thought. “You guys decide,” she told the transplant coordinator, confident that the recipient, even though he or she would remain anonymous, would be the person who was in the most dire need.
Amber was surprised by how smoothly her donation went. She was in and out of the hospital after just a single night’s stay with her heart filled with gratitude, knowing the blessing was coming full circle.
“I’m so proud you want to help someone who is just like me,” beamed Daylea, who couldn’t stop hugging her mom.
Today, Amber works as a pediatric social worker and recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her kidney donation. She’s hoping one day the recipient will reach out and share their story. “I know what it’s like when somebody comes through for you,” she says. “I have my little girl, and the recipient and I share a special connection, it was a miracle for us both.”
