OMAHA, Neb. (KTIV) -
Time is running out for an 18-month-old girl who is in dire need of a liver transplant. Her family is asking the public for help to save her life.
Like most 18-month-olds, Montserrat Flores is a happy playful child but, what's not obvious is the condition that's threatening her life.
"Right now she's stable, she's a very happy baby, she plays, she smiles, she plays," Mercedes Flores says through an interpreter.
Mercedes Flores, the girl's mother spoke with us through a translator, her cousin, Graciela Vrieze. She says, Montserrat was born with a liver problem. She had surgery in her native Mexico to treat it. And for a while it looked like she was getting better.
"We came here to spend the holiday, or the Christmas, the doctor in Mexico told me the baby was going to be fine for sometime," Flores said.
But then a few days before Christmas, they noticed Montserrat was having difficulty breathing, and wasn't her usual self. She was taken to a Storm Lake hospital on December 25th.
When doctors at the local emergency room discovered the severity of Montserrat's condition she was flown here to the Children's Hospital in Omaha.
"Right now the hospital is treating her for influenza, but the diagnosis for the baby is biliary artresia," Flores said.
In other words, there's a blockage in the ducts that carry bile away from the liver to the gallbladder. This can cause cirrhosis, and that can lead to death. Flores says she cannot go back to Mexico at this point. Doctors there, say there is nothing they can do.
"Doctors here, they have told me that she really needs a liver transplant in order to survive," Flores said.
But the family has no U.S. medical insurance. Now her only hope is to raise money for the procedure. They say it could cost between half a million to a million dollars. This is why Flores is asking the public for donations.
"Help me, to get my daughter ahead, I ask all the parents to be in my shoes," Flores said.
If you would like to help Montserrat, a fund has been set up.
Donations are being accepted through Saint Mary's Church in Storm Lake, Iowa. Be sure to address your donations to go towards Montserrat Flores. You can also find their Facebook page by clicking, here.
Montserrat Flores' stomach is distended due to swelling in her liver.
