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As most of you are aware my daughter

Crystal had to have a liver transplant. Our journey began December 31. I had a feeling that I should call my daughter, I was at work at the time. I called her and asked her how she was.

She said, I am not doing so good. I said I feel like I should come over. She said yes I think you should. I went into her bedroom and was so shocked and frightened. I said we are going to the hospital. I took her to BryanWest.

They immediately got us into a room. I could tell by the nurses faces that it was not good, they avoided looking directly at my daughter or myself. The Dr came in, took one look at her and said, you are in liver failure. My daughter said are you telling me I am going to die. He said unless you receive a new liver we will be having a different discussion .

He looked at me and said have your family come tomorrow to make arrangements. Crystal was admitted immediately into the hospital.

The next few days, turned into weeks, then a month. It was absolutely terrifying. The hospital pretty much gave up on her and discharged my daughter with no planning or instruction. I brought her home and she was getting worse and worse. That was January 13th. I was so afraid she would die in her sleep.

It was Martin Luther Kings day. I was talking to my son and we made the decision to take her back to the hospital. This is when the Lord started to intervene.

The ER doctor was so kind and just happened to have studied under the top Liver Transplant Doctor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He said she needs a liver transplant or she won’t make it. He admitted her to the 5th floor of ICU. This floor you was a floor you did not leave alive. We knew it. Another Dr came in, a liver specialist and said he was going to call Omaha and see if they had a bed for her. We were told that if she was accepted for a room that the entire family needed to be there.

That being said, there was no guarantee she would receive a liver. Every day was a struggle watching my daughter, my baby girl , dying before my eyes.

I got a call from the specialist and he said he was on the way to Crystal’s room to tell the family that there was no bed for her. Just as he reached her room his phone rang, (January 22)it was UNMC of Omaha. They had a bed!

I called the family and we all headed to Omaha. The Medivac team came to transport Crystal. Little did we know she flat lined on the way to Omaha. The team was able to bring my daughter back to life.

We got to the room and she did not look good. The outlook was very grave. We all stayed until around 9, some family went home, some stayed in Omaha.

The next morning we were back at the hospital only to find Crystal crying. She overheard the doctors talking and they said she wasn’t going to make it. I hugged her and said yes you are!

She was then moved to ICU. Crystal was in this small room with no windows. She was continuing to decline. Doctors telling family members she would not leave the hospital on her own. She was actively dying in front of us. In and out of consciousness, not knowing where she was. Not knowing her children. Absolutely devastating to her children; bringing them to tears.

We as a family had to make sure she knew where she was, what day and hour it was. Who we were. These were the requirements to even be considered. We reiterated this every hour on the hour or whenever someone new came to visit.

We never gave up, she never gave up the fight to live. We talked to Crystal, prayers were lifted up every hour. Friends sent cards from all over, people were stopping by. Strangers stopping us and telling us they were praying for our family. Nurses and interns sharing their testimony with us. We still never gave up.

Crystal was still actively dying In front of us. The inside of her mouth was black, her teeth were rotting. Her fingers and toes and under her chin were purple. (Blood pools in areas of your body when you die.) Her feet were starting to droop. A sign of your body failing. More prayers and speaking with God to spare her life if it was his will.

At this time we were spiritually ready to accept whatever God had planned for Crystal.

The very next day, (this is how wonderful God is and hears our prayers) Crystal sat up, grabbed a frozen lemon popsicle and started eating it. We knew then, God was not done with Crystal here on earth.

Each day she started to improve, every day the family and friends worked with her. We were told a decision was going to be made if the hospital would grant her a new liver.

We were nervous, her dad cried. My son James said Dad have faith it is up to God, he will decide.

We were in Crystal’s room and her dad found a letter on the spare bed. He read it and gave it to me. It was a denial letter from the hospital. Someone had accidentally left it in her room. We were devastated, our baby girl, my daughter, a mom, a sister and aunt, a niece was denied a second chance at life. My baby was going to die.

A few minutes later the Liver Team came in and addressed Crystal and all of us and said they would be meeting the next morning to make a decision. I handed him the letter and said this was left in her room. You could see the shock on his face. He crumpled the letter up and said this shouldn’t have been left in her room.

We were given a sliver of hope. I have to say during this entire time, I never felt that she was going to die. The story of the woman inflicted for 12 years with bleeding, believed that if she just touched the hem of Jesus’ gown she would be healed. Jesus also said if you have faith even as small as a mustard seed you could move a mountain.

That was our prayers, our conversations with God. The next morning the majority of us were in Crystal’s room and the Liver Team came in. He looked at Crystal and said we are granting you a liver. He said to her, it wasn’t just based on you, he pointed around the room and said because of al of them. Their commitment and support for you. The prayers, the signs, the cards. He said you are a miracle.

He then proceeded to tell her that you flat lined on your way here, you were not expected to leave this hospital alive. We were all crying and embracing this miracle snd answers to all our prayers.

The Doctor walked out just as Crystal’s oldest daughter walked in. She saw us all crying, her mom crying. Her heart skipped a beat and dropped to the pit of her stomach. She thought we were crying because her mom was denied. Sadness turned into overwhelming happiness and praise to God, appreciation for the Liver Team. All the staff at UNMC.

We were told this on a Thursday and the Doctor said Crystal could have a new liver as soon as Monday. Fast forward to that following Friday. February 6th, Crystal was in surgery. Liver surgery is one of biggest, most difficult surgeries you can have.

God has blessed our family with the gift of a second chance at life for Crystal. A chance that another family’s loved one gave by donating their organ.

There is always a risk and Crystal has had some setbacks and financially struggling. She is unable to work for several months, and as we lnow bills do not stop . Her transplant automatically disqualified her from unemployment and it will be some time before she can get Disability.

I am starting this go fund me to help my daughter and her son stay in their home and pay for monthly expenses. I pray that God will lay upon your hearts the desire to support my daughter and her family during this difficult time while she is beginning the new chapter of her renewed life with her children and family.

We would be grateful if you could donate, share this message with others and keep Crystal in your prayers. God Bless!