TORONTO — A Winnipeg girl who underwent liver transplant surgery in Toronto after her family issued a public plea for a donor is now recovering in hospital, a family friend said.
Tina Lussier said she had been on tenterhooks since the surgery began around 7 a.m. Monday, and was thrilled to hear Tuesday morning that it had gone well.
"We waited up last night and by 6 p.m., we were expecting to hear something — and nothing. And we were starting to get really terrified," she said.
"I didn't sleep well last night and I'm so relieved."
Eleven-year-old Allexis Siebrecht, who was born with a rare liver disease, was told late Saturday night that a liver was available from a deceased donor.
An air ambulance then flew her to Toronto, at which point she was admitted to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Allexis was diagnosed when she was a baby with biliary atresia, which impedes bile transport from the liver to the small intestine.
Her mother, Liz Siebrecht, had appealed for a donor in March after learning her daughter needed a transplant within three to six months.
Lussier said Siebrecht, who is at the hospital with her daughter, is "exhausted."
"Liz is a single mom with three kids, so her other children will be joining her in Toronto tomorrow ... so a lot of expense, a lot of stress," she said.
Fundraising efforts continue to help support Allexis and her family, Lussier said, noting that while some $17,000 had been raised so far, more would be needed to help the family, who might have to stay in Toronto for up to six months after Allexis's surgery.
