Family and friends celebrate 1 year anniversary of Allexis Siebrecht’s liver transplant

WINNIPEG — One year ago, a 12-year-old Winnipeg girl received a life-saving liver transplant.

Now Allexis Siebrecht, along with family and friends, are celebrating her “second chance at life” Wednesday at The Forks.

“It’s the one year anniversary of Allexis Siebrecht’s liver transplant! I will remember that day for as long as I live,” family friend, Tina Lussier wrote on Facebook.

“Samantha Rae Lussier & I sat by the phone all day waiting and praying to hear good news from Liz Siebrecht. I remember the minutes ‘ticking by’ like hours. We were both in tears by the time we went to bed, sick with worry.”

READ MORE: Winnipeg girl’s liver transplant ‘went well,’ family friend says

Allexis was born with liver disease called Biliary Atresia.

In March 2015, she captivated Winnipeggers’ hearts, pleading for donors to come forward, as she desperately needed a liver transplant.

Lussier’s adult daughter, Samantha, was one of the people who came forward to offer to be a live donor, but tests in Toronto showed she wasn’t a suitable match.

Last June, Allexis travelled from her home in Winnipeg to Toronto for the surgery and nearly $30,000 was raised through an online GoFundMe page to help with the cost of transportation and recovery.

WATCH: Allexis Siecbrecht recovers in hospital after liver transplant in June 2015

The transplant was a success and Wednesday there is a celebration of the transplant under the canopy at The Forks at 2 p.m. Friends and family are also hoping to raise awareness about organ donation.

RELATED: Manitoba group pushing for presumed consent in organ donations

“We will also honour the memory of the donor with a prayer and the releasing of flowers into the Red River,” Lussier wrote on Facebook.