UPDATE: Donations Pour In, Exceed Initial Fundraising Goal
Laura Torres welcomed her baby girl Emma into the world in October, but shortly after her world was turned upside down.
“[We went] from living full of hope to living full of fear,” Torres told NBC 5.
Since then Torres has spent nearly all of her time inside the neonatal intensive-care unit of Comer Children’s Hospital, where her daughter has spent the first two months of her life.
There are only 240 known cases of the rare intestinal disease MMIHS, or megacystis microcolon intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome, and Emma was named case number 241.
Emma’s best chance for survival is to have a multi-organ transplant to her liver, bladder and intestines, said Comer’s Chief of Neonatology Michael Schreiber.
If Emma’s battle to survive was not hard enough, Torres is also fighting to find a way to pay the mountain of medical expenses needed to complete Emma’s life-saving procedures.
Prior to Emma’s diagnosis, Torres worked as an oncology nurse at Rush University Medical Hospital. Now she cares full-time for her most important patient, her newborn daughter.
Local
“Emma’s mom is unbelievable, she is here every day is at her bedside,” Schreiber said. “But it takes its toll.”
Despite the difficult hand she’s been dealt, Torres remains hopeful. She has set up a fundraising website, praying the generosity of others will keep her going.
“[Even if it’s just] the $5 that someone forgets in the laundry or the change in their car,” Torres said. “It can be used to help me take care of my child.”
To donate to baby Emma's fund, please visit http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/emma-s-fund/272601.
