For the past five weeks, one-year-old Lukah Mitchell has been at the pediatric intensive care unit at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.
The toddler had to undergo surgery about a year after she was born. In September, her parents discovered blood in her diaper and immediately took her to the emergency room.
Doctors found a massive benign tumour, the size of a grapefruit, from her abdomen. Surgery complications meant Lukah would need a multivisceral transplant, which includes a new liver, intestines, arteries, bowels and blood connections.
The donation would have to come from a deceased donor giving their entire abdominal cavity. The donor would have to be about Lukah’s age and size, as well as have the same blood type.
Her parents, Tanis and Kody from Okotoks, said they’ve been told the donation and procedure is extremely rare.
In the past 20 years, doctors have performed less than 10.
“[Doctors] have done seven procedures here and Lukah would be the eighth,” her father Kody said.
Her mother, Tanis, said despite the waiting, they remain grateful their daughter is still alive. Doctors believed she likely had less than a day to live when she first arrived at the hospital.
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“They gave us 12 to 24 hours for her to live and it’s been five weeks and she’s gone up and down and shown us what it means to fight and live,” Tanis said. “She’s been crazy brave.”
In Canada, Lukah is number one on the priority waiting list for the transplant.
Warning: Some photos are sensitive in nature.
Her parents describe her as the most pleasant baby, easily content with just wiggling her toes. They also have a three-year-old girl named Berlynn.
“We’re just listening to her, when she tells us she keeps fighting, we do the same.”
As her parents continue their uphill battle, members of their community are also supporting them. A fundraising effort to support the family has raised more than $45,000 so far.
“We’ve had a lot of people online who’ve been able to connect with her story, so we’ve been encouraged by that — that Lukah is so much bigger than this,” Kody said.
On Thursday evening, members of the Okotoks community hosted a fundraising barbecue at Big Sky BBQ. There will also be a silent auction and musical entertainment, with proceeds going to the Mitchell family.
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