Facing inevitable liver transplant, young girl didn’t need to look far for a living donor
Peri Erickson, all 25 pounds of her, turns to her mother in the hospital exam room, curls her right arm in the air and demands: “Feel my muscle.”
Claire Erickson gently pinches the flesh of her daughter’s slender biceps and smiles. “Dang, girl, you must be working out,” she says.
At 3, Peri hasn’t been hitting the gym, but she’s definitely feeling stronger. On March 21, she underwent a liver transplant at Children’s Hospital Colorado that has helped solve medical problems that began at birth with her diagnosis of biliary atresia, a rare and life-threatening disease of the liver and bile ducts.
And though her condition wouldn’t have placed her high on the list of patients seeking potential deceased liver donors, Peri took a different route. She found a living donor — and she didn’t have to look far.
Read the full story at The Denver Post.
AURORA, CO – APRIL 24: Peri Erickson, 3, who underwent a liver transplant in which her mother was the living donor, on April 24, 2017 in Aurora , Colorado. Peri and her mother, Claire Erickson, were at Children’s Hospital for a follow-up exam. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Peri Erickson, 3, who underwent a liver transplant in which her mother was the living donor, on April 24, 2017 in Aurora , Colorado. Peri and her mother, Claire Erickson, were at Children’s Hospital for a follow-up exam. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
AURORA, CO – APRIL 24: Peri Erickson, 3, who underwent a liver transplant in which her mother was the living donor, on April 24, 2017 in Aurora , Colorado. Peri and her mother, Claire Erickson, were at Children’s Hospital for a follow-up exam. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Peri Erickson, 3, who underwent a liver transplant in which her mother was the living donor, on April 24, 2017 in Aurora , Colorado. Peri and her mother, Claire Erickson, were at Children’s Hospital for a follow-up exam. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)