NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Meredith Roberts of North Tonawanda loves swimming and spending time with friends. But her parents said everything changed just late October when the 17-year-old athlete was rushed to the hospital with acute liver failure.
"It just started a few days before that with some dark urine, which we thought was likely due to dehydration," Meredith's mother, Sara Roberts, said. "But her liver levels were terrible when we checked them, and the pediatrician told me I had to pull her out of swim practice to go straight to the Children's Hospital because she was swimming through all of this.
Sara said Meredith had no history of liver problems or underlying health issues. Doctors later revealed she tested positive for Wilson's disease, a rare genetic disorder that causes copper to build in the body, damaging the liver and other organs.
"She swims many hours a day, six days a week," Sara said. "She was looking forward to sectionals. She's ranked number one in New York State for this weekend's competition, and now she won't be there."
Meredith is being treated at UPMC in Pittsburgh, where her family waits and hopes for a living-donor liver transplant.
WATCH: 'Whatever it takes': 17-year-old swimmer fights for her life after sudden liver failure
Dr. Lisse Kaylor, a transplant surgeon at ECMC, said time is critical in cases like Meredith's. She said that a living donor transplant means a healthy person can donate a portion of their liver, which then grows back to full size in both the donor and recipient.
"The liver that remains will hypertrophy and fill the space to meet the metabolic demand of the person who donated," Dr. Kaylor said.
Despite the uncertainty, Sara said the outpouring of love and kindness from the community and from strangers has been overwhelming.
"I can't even tell you how unbelievable it is to hear from everyone," she said. "Friends, family, even people we don't know saying, 'You don't know us, but I'm willing to give your daughter part of my liver.'"
Supporters have been sending messages and cards through UPMC online, where Child Life Services prints and delivers them to her hospital room.
The family said they wanted to share one message with other parents: never take an ordinary day for granted.
"She just can't wait to get back to normal," Sara said. "We realize we have a new normal for now, and we'll do whatever it takes to get her back. But just treasure every second, no matter how ordinary it is."
Those interested in helping can find a link to the family's GoFundMe page.
