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Teen desperate for new liver as family struggles to make ends meet

Haley said for her the hardest part is finding friends who understand.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- A Louisville teen is in desperate need of new liver. The JCPS sixth grader has been traveling back and forth to Cincinnati with her mom for treatments for the last two months.

But that trip just got more complicated and now her family is hoping you may be able to help.

Looking through the baby books, memories made by Haley and her family look a little different. Most of them happened in the hospital because for the beginning of Haley's life the hospital was home.

"She's stayed so strong with it all. That's what's keeping me together. As long as she keeps doing what's she's doing. It’s been ok, it was rough, but it’s been ok,” Catherine Carey, Haley’s mom, said.

Haley was born with a genetic disorder and had a kidney transplant when she was two-years-old.

Ten years later, she looks like a happy, healthy teenager. But things aren't always how they look.

Haley is going into liver failure and once again finding herself at home in a hospital.

"If we don't get a liver it could cost her her life,” Carey said.

For the last two months the family has been making trips to Cincinnati for treatment.

Haley said for her the hardest part is finding friends who understand. She said, "You normally don't see people with the same things that I'm going through. It’s very rare."

For her mom, the hardest part is holding it all together. She said she can't catch a break.

A few trips ago the family car caught on fire.

Carey said, "By the time it burnt it took the whole engine, the transmission, everything went down."

Everyone made it out ok, but the car was damaged.

Now, Haley is being flown by helicopter to the hospital for treatment and her mom is struggling to make ends meet.

Carey said, "It’s been pretty rough. I just try to stay strong and do it. I know I've got to go for her so that's the only thing I can keep in my brain- just keep doing what I'm doing."

She said staying positive proves more and more difficult but staying strong is her only option.

You can follow the family’s journey and donate here.

►Contact reporter Shay McAlister at smcalister@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Shay) and Facebook.

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