‘They saved my baby’: Mother hopes to bring awareness to need for liver transplants

CHARLOTTE — At five years old, it’s now easy for Sadie Sellers to keep up with her twin brother Stokely.

It’s a night and day difference compared to when they were born.

When Sadie suffered from jaundice that wouldn’t go away, blood tests later revealed a rare but serious illness.

Sadie was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a pediatric liver disease where bile ducts don’t form properly, causing fluid and toxins to build up in the body.

She was eventually put on the organ transplant list.

“It’s difficult because you know that if you don’t find a living donor ... then you know that someone has to die for your child to live. And that is just heartbreaking,” Sadie’s mother, Ellen Rucker Sellers, said.

Sellers described how they waited and prayed for 93 days. And then, when Sadie was eight months old, Ellen’s father, suddenly died one day.

Just a few hours later, as Ellen was grieving, Sadie’s doctor called with the good news that they had found a child donor for her.

“We are so grateful for the organ donation family. We pray for them every single night. We call them our family because they saved my baby,” Sellers explained.

While Sellers believes it was a miracle, it was also bittersweet.

“My father went to heaven so that my baby could live, and I truly believe that now. He’s her guardian angel, and she has not been sick since,” Sellers elaborated.

Now she hopes Sadie’s story will help raise awareness and save others.

Sadie will serve as the National Liver Champion for Charlotte’s first-ever Liver Walk, as well as for events all over the county.

“Almost 100 million people are affected by liver disease in the U.S., and so many people die on that list, and we want to do better. And we hope that our advocacy will help with that,” Sellers said.

You can learn more about how you can support the Liver Walk here.

VIDEO: 10-month-old boy in need of liver transplant finds match in his mom

10-month-old boy in need of liver transplant finds match in his mom

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