A one-year-old toddler from Okotoks, Alta., who doctors believed had only 24 hours to live, has received a critical and life-saving organ donation.
Lukah Mitchell has been on the priority waitlist for a multi-visceral organ donation and had been waiting at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton for the past two months.
On Sunday, Lukah’s mother Tanis Mitchell announced the news the family’s prayers have been answered.
“We got the call! Some little baby out there is giving Lu their organs—a new life! The best gift we’ve ever been given,” Tanis wrote on Instagram.
The organ donation required to save Lukah’s life came from a deceased baby, giving their entire abdominal cavity.
After a gruelling nine-hour surgery Sunday, Lukah’s parents, Tanis and Kody, told Global News the surgery went well and doctors are happy about the outcome.
Watch from Nov. 29: A one-year-old toddler from Okotoks is in need of a rare transplant in order to survive. As Christa Dao explains, despite the rarity, her parents are not giving up hope.
“It’s pretty hard to stop smiling,” Kody said Monday. “(The doctor) said it was a little more complicated than he expected but he’s happy with the results.”
“We were hoping and praying that the surgeon would do well and this would actually work,” he said.
The Mitchells said they received a call at around 3 a.m. Sunday from doctors that there has been an organ donation for Lukah.
“It was the perfect size and right blood type,” Kody said.
READ MORE: Alberta medical students want more done to increase organ donations
Despite the life-saving donation, the Mitchells said they acknowledge where the special gift came from, and they continue to pray for the family grieving their child.
“When I found out about the donation, one of my initial thoughts was ‘thank you.’ This is Christmas time and someone will have the worst Christmas … that they lost their baby at Christmas and that gift meant Lukah has another chance at life,” Kody said.
There are still challenges for the toddler. Lukah is fighting an infection in her abdomen cavity as her bowels have perforated. Doctors will still need to monitor her and ensure her body doesn’t reject the transplant.
Doctors believed the toddler had less than a day to live when she first arrived at the hospital back in October. It has been about eight weeks since Lukah went to hospital.