ST. LOUIS (KMOV/Gray News) – When her 8-year-old daughter needed a transplant, an Arkansas mother looked within and found the strength to donate part of her own liver.
Esmay Stage, along with her identical twin, was born prematurely. Four months into Esmay’s life, she had a brain bleed, leading to a more than eight-hour surgery. She was later diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare and serious liver disease, and was put on the list for a transplant.
“We were given six months for her,” said Esmay’s mother, Halie Stage. “But she actually turned around and did way better than they thought, so we made it to 8 years.”
Doctors told the family last year that it was time for Esmay’s transplant. To save her daughter’s life, Stage looked within…