MEET DRU
Last year two days after Christmas, our daughter's family welcomed a 3 month old angel into their family. Her name is Gracie Dru Symone Shipley. While she arrived with beautiful eyes and a captivating smile, she also came with a then undetected liver disorder. This disease is Biliary Atresia.
Because my daughter is much more eloquent than I, and has written their story so beautifully, I will link you to her blog
here. You will captivated by this girl's fight and beautiful spirit. Part of their story, and probably the hardest part, was the wait for a liver transplant. Because of her situation and the severity of the disease, a deceased donor was the only option. That liver never came. No one ever wished that another family would have to suffer the loss of a loved one close to Dru's age and size. In fact the reason I am posting this is because I wanted to make others aware of the need for pediatric donors. I myself would have cringed at the thought of making the choice, in the heat of the most horrific moments in a parents life, to donate a dying or deceased child's organs. But now, on the other side, I know that I would most certainly make that sacrifice.
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Halloween in the hospital |
Our Dru (aka Little Miss Magic), passed away at the age of 14 months while waiting for a transplant. While it is too late for our little angel, your sacrifice might save more than one life. Please, be aware, and make others aware of the need for pediatric organ donors. We love our little Dru and miss her every day. Her organs were too toxic to be donated, but her parents would have if there had been a possibility.