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Kiersten Miles: Nanny Donates Part Of Her Liver To Save Toddler’s Life

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 09:27 PST, Feb 2, 2017

The parents of a little toddler from New Jersey will forever remain indebted to their nanny who did not think twice before she decided to do something truly extraordinary; in this case, donating part of her liver to the toddler to save her life.

Sixteen-month-old Talia Rosko is only just getting to know her nanny, 22-year-old Kiersten Miles. Playful like most other toddlers her age, it would be some time before little Talia would be able to realize how a selfless act on the part of Miles is the reason she is alive and can lead a healthy life. Nanny Kiersten and Talia were just starting to bond after Miles was hired by Talia’s parents to take care of their little toddler. Just three weeks into her job, Kiersten decided to make a life-changing decision that would have a great impact on her and little Talia’s lives, as reported by The Washington Post.

It was only a few days after she was hired that Kiersten was told about a rare, life-threatening liver disease that Malia suffered from. The condition, known as biliary atresia, is a medical condition in which the bile ducts inside or outside the liver do not have normal openings. Talia was diagnosed with the condition shortly after her birth – after Talia’s parents noted that the whites of her eyes were gray and that her skin had a yellow tinge. After a thorough check-up, doctors told the Talia family about biliary atresia. Doctors also told them the child would not live past her 2nd birthday if action wasn’t taken.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases described biliary atresia as follows;

“With biliary atresia, bile becomes trapped, builds up, and damages the liver. The damage leads to scarring, loss of liver tissue, and cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is a chronic, or long lasting, liver condition caused by scar tissue and cell damage that makes it hard for the liver to remove toxins from the blood. These toxins build up in the blood and the liver slowly deteriorates and malfunctions. Without treatment, the liver eventually fails and the infant needs a liver transplant to stay alive.”

After she had come to know about the condition, Kiersten decided to help in any way possible. Just three weeks into her job, Kiersten started researching on the condition and read about everything that was on the Internet about it. She eventually figured out that biliary atresia causes bile to build up inside the liver and ends up destroying tissue. Infants affected by this condition need to undergo surgery and usually require liver tissues from donors or a complete liver transplant to ensure that they can survive. Following her research, Kiersten also found that since her blood type was O, she could become a donor. By the end of the third week of her employment, Kiersten decided that she would give the girl a piece of her own liver if it were medically possible

Before telling Talia’s parents what she had in mind, Kiersten also had the major task of informing her own family about her decision. After she had convinced her relatives, she started the conversation with Talia’s mother, Farra Rosko.'”I was nervous for some reason – I’m not sure why. I just told her I had done some research, and I wanted to fill out the paperwork to see if I was a match,” Miles told The Washington Post.

Rosko was initially shocked when she heard what was in Miles’ mind.

“I was very taken aback. This is a serious thing,” Rosko said she told Miles. “This is not like donating blood.”

Once Kiersten convinced the family she wanted to help, she underwent several tests to make sure she was an ideal donor for the liver tissue. Months later, it was found that Kiersten was indeed a match. After months of testing, earlier this year on January 11, a portion of Miles’ liver was transplanted to the little Talia’s body. The procedure of the removal of liver tissue from Kiersten’s body was carried out at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania following which it was rushed it next door to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where they implanted it in Talia. Almost two weeks later, both Talia and Kiersten are recovering from the surgery which was successful. Talia’s parents are overjoyed and remain thankful to Kiersten’s selfless act.

“We didn’t even know her. I thought it was wonderful that she offered, but I didn’t really think it would go through. It’s not something that people do every day.”

The remarkable story of a nanny going out of her way to help save the life of a toddler she barely knew is now going viral.

[Featured Image By Sasint/ Pixabay]

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