FAST FACTS:
Omari.Fleming@wreg.com
(Bartlett, TN 2/23/2009) When you look at Gracie Patterson, you see a little girl with a beautiful smile.
"She's a loveable little girl who just laughs," says her step-grandfather Terry Ketchum.
But what you can't see is the battle the 2-year-old has been waging against a rare disease, her entire life.
"It can lead to mental retardation. it can lead to death, so it's a serious thing."
Gracie suffers from Maple Syrup Urine Disease. A metabolic disorder that didn't allow her to digest proteins. She was diagnosed with the disease at 13-days-old.
Since then it's meant a special, regimented diet and extreme caution for her family.
"It was a lot of concern because of the special diet or the uncertainty of when you weren't watching," explains Ketchum. Some other child might give her a cracker or a cookie or a bag of chips."
And that could've sent Gracie's system into a tail spin, leading to death.
The only cure, a liver transplant. Gracie has he's been on the waiting list for the past year, until her family got a call Friday the 13th.
Ketchum couldn't contain his elation.
"Tears of joy. That's the whole moment this family has been waiting for."
Good news, but the family only had four and a half hours to get from Memphis to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Gracie's mom was at work. Her dad was in the air, piloting a Pinnacle flight to Detroit.
When a pre-arranged flight by Pinnacle wasn't available... FedEx answered the call, chartering a flight for Gracie and her mom to Pittsburgh.
Gracie's father made it before his daughter woke up and was recently able to hold her for the first time.
From her hospital bed Gracie is once again flashing her signature smile after a surgery that saved her life and will now allow her to eat anything she wants.
"I love cooking for Noah and the hole family and now I'll be able to cook for Gracie," beamed her grandmother.
We're told Gracie is recovering quickly, but won't return to the Memphis area for another two or three months.
Maple Syrup Urine Disease gets its name because the person's urine smells like syrup. The disease is passed on by parents, meaning you can be tested for it before you have kids.
It happens in all races in about one in every 225,000 births.
- 2-year-old suffers from Maple Syrup Urine Disease
- Liver transplant helps cure the disease
- FedEx chartered a plane to rush the little girl to a hospital before deadline for transplant
Omari.Fleming@wreg.com
(Bartlett, TN 2/23/2009) When you look at Gracie Patterson, you see a little girl with a beautiful smile.
"She's a loveable little girl who just laughs," says her step-grandfather Terry Ketchum.
But what you can't see is the battle the 2-year-old has been waging against a rare disease, her entire life.
"It can lead to mental retardation. it can lead to death, so it's a serious thing."
Gracie suffers from Maple Syrup Urine Disease. A metabolic disorder that didn't allow her to digest proteins. She was diagnosed with the disease at 13-days-old.
Since then it's meant a special, regimented diet and extreme caution for her family.
"It was a lot of concern because of the special diet or the uncertainty of when you weren't watching," explains Ketchum. Some other child might give her a cracker or a cookie or a bag of chips."
And that could've sent Gracie's system into a tail spin, leading to death.
The only cure, a liver transplant. Gracie has he's been on the waiting list for the past year, until her family got a call Friday the 13th.
Ketchum couldn't contain his elation.
"Tears of joy. That's the whole moment this family has been waiting for."
Good news, but the family only had four and a half hours to get from Memphis to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Gracie's mom was at work. Her dad was in the air, piloting a Pinnacle flight to Detroit.
When a pre-arranged flight by Pinnacle wasn't available... FedEx answered the call, chartering a flight for Gracie and her mom to Pittsburgh.
Gracie's father made it before his daughter woke up and was recently able to hold her for the first time.
From her hospital bed Gracie is once again flashing her signature smile after a surgery that saved her life and will now allow her to eat anything she wants.
"I love cooking for Noah and the hole family and now I'll be able to cook for Gracie," beamed her grandmother.
We're told Gracie is recovering quickly, but won't return to the Memphis area for another two or three months.
Maple Syrup Urine Disease gets its name because the person's urine smells like syrup. The disease is passed on by parents, meaning you can be tested for it before you have kids.
It happens in all races in about one in every 225,000 births.
