Molly Clark
2022 Liver Star Honoree
Liver Health Foundation is proud to introduce Molly Clark, as the recipient of 2022 Liver Star Award. Molly is a vivacious young lady who is dedicated to helping other young liver patients. We are extremely proud of Molly, her dedication, and her continued support of our efforts.
Molly was born December 30, 2009 and appeared to be a healthy baby. Her parents were thrilled to have a gorgeous baby girl. The young family’s hopes and dreams were coming true. But twenty-four hours after she was born, jaundice set in, and the family’s happiness turned into worries. While jaundice is fairly normal in newborns and very treatable, Molly's jaundice was more serious and life-threatening. As her pediatrician checked her bilirubin every few hours, he took note that her liver was not processing and passing the bilirubin as it should. This discovery landed Molly in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and started the long ordeal of discovering what was wrong with her and how to save the precious baby girl.
Day after day, Molly underwent a series of antibiotics, blood draws, scans, and other tests, all the while her skin turned more yellow, she stopped gaining weight, became very agitated and her bowel movements turned white. You can imagine the fear her parents were experiencing as they faced the unknown. They wanted their baby girl to come home and be healthy, but they were faced with the reality of her struggle. The parents went on a mission to help find a diagnosis and treatment.
After weeks of tests, blood screening and liver biopsy, the family finally received a diagnosis...Biliary Atresia. Shortly after diagnosis, the infant Molly underwent a surgery called a Kasai. No one could give the parents the comfort of promising that this surgery was going to help their little baby girl, however they knew Molly was in great hands with surgeons who understood Biliary Atresia and the Kasai procedure very well. Molly’s Kasai procedure took almost eight hours, the longest eight hours of the young parents’ life.
Miracles do happen. The surgery went well, Molly’s liver had little damage and her surgeon was able to find very healthy bile flow when doing the reconstruction. Just four days after surgery the parents were told they could take their baby home, because she was doing well. the little fighter was doing her best to defeat her disease. Over the next few months Molly continued to flourish, her skin color gradually became a beautiful pink, she started gaining weight, and she stopped being agitated and began to smile. Her liver was working wonderfully.
Now, Molly is a brave, kind, and animated twelve-year-old who is in sixth grade. She enjoys basketball, chess, piano, and crafting. She has been an amazing student with straight As since Kindergarten. She is sweet and spicy, a talented speaker, and a champion in sharing her story and raising awareness for liver disease. Molly and her parents are thankful for the science that has saved Molly’s life and do all they can to make sure other children don’t suffer with Biliary Atresia.