1-year-old Kentucky girl healthy and thriving thanks to life-saving organ donation
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Updated: 6:55 PM EST Dec 25, 2020
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Updated: 6:55 PM EST Dec 25, 2020
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>> SHE WAS ABOUT EIGHT-WEEKS-OLD, AND WE JUST KIND OF LOOKED AT HER ONE DA AND LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND SAID, SHE KIND OF LOOKS A LITTLE BIT YELLOW JENNIFER: AT JUST EIGHT-WEEKS-OLD, KYLE AND KATIE DIETZ’S NEWBORN BABY GIRL, AVA, RECEIVED A LIFE CHANGING DIAGNOSIS. >> THEY WERE PRETTY SURE SHE HAD THIS LIVER DISEASE CALLED BILIARY ATRESIA, AND IT WAS CONFIRMED ABOUT 24 HOURS LATER. JENNIFER: AVA’S DOCTORS TOLD HER PARENTS A LIVER TRANSPLANT WAS HER ONLY CHANCE OF SURVIVAL. ON JUNE 16, 2020, AVA RECEIVED THAT LIFE SAVING GIFT. >> TO SEE THE LIFE THAT CAN BE SAVED BY DONATING IS JUST INCREDIBLE. AVA IS FIRST HAND PROOF THAT IT IS TRULY A GIFT. JENNIFER: AVA’S STORY IS ONE OF MANY SUCCESSFUL TRANSPLANTS TH YEAR. THE KENTUCKY ORGAN DONOR AFFILIATES REPORTS A 25% INCREASE FROM 2019. >> MORE LIVES HAVE BEEN SAVED IN 2020 THAN EVER BEFORE. JENNIFER: KODA VICE PRESIDENT, SHELLEY SNYDER, SAYS THE ORGANIZATION HAD THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF ORGAN DONORS A TRANSPLANTS THAN EVER BEFORE, WITH MORE THAN 170 ORGAN DONATIONS AND NEARLY 500 TRANSPLANTS IN 2020, ALL DURING THE DEADLY CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC WHICH LED TO COMPLICATIONS IN DONATIONS. >> ANYBODY THAT IS DYING AND THEY’RE COVID POSITIVE, UNFORTUNATELY CANNOT BE A DONOR OF ANY TYPE. JENNIFER: BUT SNYDER SAYS THE CIRCUIT CLERK’S TRUST FOR LIFE PROGRAM HELPED ADD 60,000 NAMES TO THE DONOR REGISTRY WHILE VOLUNTEERS AND HEALTHCARE WORKERS FOCUSED ON BEATING THE PANDEMIC. >> OUR HEALTHCARE HEROS AT KODA HAVE BEEN STILL WORKING 24/7 365 -- WORKING 24/7, 365, WORKING WITH FAMILIES INCREASING DONATION THROUGHOUT THIS REGION. JENNIFER: AS FOR AVA, SHE JUST CELEBRATED HER FIRST BIRTHDAY. HER PARENTS SAY SHE IS HAPPY AND HEALTHY THANKS TO ORGAN DONATION. >> THERE REALLY AREN’T ANY WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE LEVEL OF APPRECIATION THAT YOU HAVE FOR THAT GIFT. I THINK THAT THAT IS THE GREATEST THING THAT YOU COULD EVER GIVE SOMEONE YOU DON’T KN AND YOU’VE NEVER MET, YOU MAY NEVER KNOW T