SoCal family in desperate need of liver transplant for 6-month-old boy

Monday, October 7, 2019
WHITTIER, Calif. (KABC) -- Two identical brothers are living very different lives. One baby was born healthy, but the other is in desperate need of a liver transplant.

He's a healthy, happy 6-month-old, but Hendrix Quinn's identical twin brother James has spent much of his young life in the hospital.

James is currently at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital in need of a liver transplant.

"All of it's scary, just to see your child hurting at all," Jacinda Quinn, James mother, said.

James has Biliary Atresia, a rare disease that affects newborns.

"He needs an O blood match as far as a live donor... he's been going through a lot," Quinn said.

A benefit was held at a Whittier hotel Sunday. The family is working with the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) to raise transplant awareness and money to help cover the infant's massive medical bills.

A fundraising campaign has been set up through COTA. If you'd like to donate, visit www.cota.org/campaigns/COTAforTeamJamesQ.

Doctors are working to increase the infant's weight and keep him stable as he waits for a living donor.

Quinn says her son is a fighter.

"You're like, 'Oh my gosh. How can you go through that and have these tubes coming out of your nose and still be smiling so big at me.' He's very strong," Quinn said.

James' grandfather and other relatives are spending time with him at the hospital, hoping and praying they will soon find a donor.

"I sing with him, I hold him, rock him to sleep and I know that good is going come out of this," said James' grandfather Pastor Allen Quinn.
Copyright © 2024 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.