Saskatoon parents waiting on life-saving organ donation for their baby

Megan Crawley has spent many sleepless nights waiting for a call that could save her baby’s life.

“Any time the phone rings you wonder who it’s going to be,” Crawley said.

Her daughter, seven-month-old Emma, has a rare condition called biliary atresia, which means bile does not drain from her liver.

Emma started showing symptoms when she was about one month old. Her doctor said she needed to go to Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.

“Within that first day we went from just walking in, expecting it to be something minor, to it being a very serious life-long condition,” she told CTV News.

Due to complications, Emma may need a multi-visceral transplant, meaning another family would have to donate organs after their child dies. (Courtesy: Megan Crawley)

Shortly after doctors referred her to Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton for a liver transplant.

Crawley said after putting out a Facebook post, nearly 100 people offered to be a donor, but then the gut-wrenching reality sank in.

Due to complications, Emma may need a multi-visceral transplant, meaning another family would have to donate organs after their child dies.

• Get Saskatoon's top stories delivered to your inbox every weekday morning

“It’s a very complex feeling and situation, just because you know what it means for another family, that someone else has to lose their child,” she said.

Crawley knows what it’s like to be on the other end. She said when her cousin died a few years ago, he became an organ donor.

The Crawley family is raising money to help cover some of the costs of Emma’s medical care. (Courtesy: Megan Crawley)

“I was in the room with the family when the doctor announced there’s no brain activity, but all of his organs could be donated,” she said.

Meanwhile, Crawley said she hopes Emma can get a transplant as soon as possible. She noted that Emma is currently at the top of the pediatric transplant list.

“Our hope and our wishes for her is that she comes out of this alive and as healthy as possible,” she said.

The Crawley family is raising money to help cover some of the costs of Emma’s medical care. Crawley encourages others to register as an organ donor, because “it saves lives”.