This ‘miracle baby’ survived COVID-19 and a liver transplant before his first birthday

Kasen Donerlson simply turned a 12 months outdated, however he most positively has the guts of a fighter, and his mom couldn’t be any prouder and honored to name him her son. Nicknamed the “miracle child”, little Kasen is receiving all of the plaudits after he heroically survived COVID-19 in addition to a liver transplant earlier than he celebrated his first birthday.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Kasen’s mom, Mitayah Donerlson, stated her son’s beforehand deteriorating well being began shortly after she gave beginning to him. Although he was born wholesome, she recalled he needed to be hospitalized for just a few days on account of respiration difficulties and jaundice – problems she stated the docs advised her would get higher as he acquired older. As an alternative, his situation relatively aggravated.

Following additional checks and two months after he was conceived, docs identified him with a extreme case of biliary atresia, a “situation in infants through which the bile ducts inside and outside the liver are scarred and blocked,” the Nationwide Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Illnesses (NIDDK) explains on its web site.

After efforts by medical officers to try to restore the affected bile ducts proved futile, Donerlson was knowledgeable the subsequent possibility was a liver transplant, and he was subsequently added to the UPMC Kids’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s transplant ready checklist.

“We had limitless hospital visits and we might be there for 5 or seven or 10 days due to the severity of the illness and the problems that Kasen was having,” Donerlson advised Good Morning America. “He would have fevers that wouldn’t come down.”

Whereas they had been ready for a match, Donerlson stated one other catastrophe struck after she, collectively together with her accomplice, niece and Kasen, all contracted COVID-19. “On Nov. 21 he awoke that morning and was extraordinarily sizzling. His physique was like touching a range,” she stated. “I simply cried as a result of I knew the hospital was going to confess us, however I didn’t know they had been going to inform us that he was COVID-positive.”

Regardless of spending just a few days within the hospital after his analysis, Kasen’s situation didn’t actually deteriorate as the one main complication was the fever. Donerlson additionally revealed issues began taking a flip for the higher after the UPMC Kids’s Hospital of Pittsburgh knowledgeable her they’d discovered a transplant match for Kasen. That was two weeks after he was hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 scare.

“All I might do was cry. They had been mommy tears and tears of pleasure. I used to be simply so comfortable,” she stated. “I all the time knew he was going to get a transplant — that was my religion — however to lastly get that decision and get that message that the surgical procedure was scheduled and to have that reduction from the burden on my shoulders dropped, it felt so good.

“I’m smiling from ear to ear proper now as a result of I can actually see that second and really feel that second once more.”

The surgical procedure this time round was profitable and Kasen nearly instantly began exhibiting indicators of enchancment, together with gaining weight and at last having clear eyes. “His eyes have all the time been greenish and yellowish, his total life, and he awoke from surgical procedure with clear eyes,” she advised Good Morning America. “I used to be overjoyed by seeing that.”

Little Kasen celebrated his first birthday on January 14 whereas nonetheless on admission on the hospital, and his mom paid tribute to his unimaginable milestone through a publish on Facebook. “Phrases cant clarify your Power, Braveness, and Dedication. I’m HONORED to be your Mom,” she captioned alongside the images of the celebration. “Thanks for being my teacher. You’re my  teacher to classes that I might  solely realized from You. I Love You  past measures… Maintain exhibiting the world the unattainable Are Doable.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KASEN.”

Donerlson can be excited in regards to the future. “What I’m wanting ahead to is Kasen strolling and speaking,” she stated. “I’m so excited for him to get these abilities and for my household to bond again collectively as we had been earlier than all of the ups and downs and the hospital visits.”