ST. LOUIS – A woman from New Jersey now calls a baby girl from Florissant her “liver bestie.”
Nadia Hussain, 39, and Eden Hernandez, 6 months old, had never met until they underwent a living donor transplant at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. They now “share” Nadia’s liver and something more.
Just when it seemed everything was ending for Eden, there came a new beginning.
“It’s hard to imagine just a little over a week she was on death’s doorstep,” Sarah Hernandez, Eden’s mother, said.
Now, less than two weeks after the transplant, Eden is healthy for the first time in her life, according to Dr. Janis Stoll, a Washington University gastroenterologist and pediatric hepatologist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Eden suffered from ‘biliary atresia’. It causes liver failure and death. Eden was running out of time.
“We were at the point of ‘How much longer does she have?’” Kevin Hernandez, Eden’s father, said.
Sarah posted a flier on social media looking for a living donor hero. Days later, one flew in from New Jersey.