In April 2007, Emmalyn Brown seemed a perfectly healthy nine-year old. In exactly two weeks, she went from experiencing extreme jaundice to receiving a liver transplant. No amount of testing could determine why her liver suddenly failed. “When I was 10, kids made fun of me. Now I understand that I am normal, your average 8th grader who can do what everyone else can. I thank everyone who has ever signed up for organ donation, because they might save another little girl like me.”

Emma's Story

In April 2007, Emmalyn Brown seemed a perfectly healthy nine-year old. In exactly two weeks, she went from experiencing extreme jaundice to receiving a liver transplant. No amount of testing could determine why her liver suddenly failed.

“At nine, when my best friend broke her arm, I wanted to be the one to sit out of gym class,” remembered Emmalyn, now 13. “When my twin sister broke her pinky, I wanted the attention she got. I have always wanted to be the center of attention and would have done anything to be. So, here’s a little secret: I wanted to break something, or get sick. Every night I’d look out my window and wish. Yes, wish for something to happen, so that I wasn’t invisible. I wanted to be different.”

“I don’t know exactly when it hit me, either sometime around the 100th needle stick, or when I couldn’t go to school, when my doctor sent me to have my blood drawn for the first time, or even when I turned yellow in gym class. But eventually I learned to deal with things,” continued Emmalyn. “When my sister said she wanted to have a transplant like me, just so she could have the candy I received in the hospital, I told her it didn’t taste that good. When I was 10, kids made fun of me. I’d gone from scrawny and normal to a girl who practically lived in the hospital, was chubby, had to take meds at school, and endure countless blood draws. I won’t lie, it hurt my feelings a lot. After one boy called me a fat dead druggy, I cried my eyes out saying I want to be normal.

“Now I understand that I am normal: your average 8th grader who can do what everyone else can, except clean out my cat’s litter box or eat grapefruit. And, to be honest, I don’t have a problem with that. I know that I’m lucky and blessed.

“I have this little fantasy that I could be Super Woman, not afraid of anything. People always call me brave when they hear my story. I laugh to myself about that because I’m never going to be anywhere close to brave, let alone a superhero. The only super heroes I’ve ever known are the people who save lives. Thanking people has always been hard for me. But, if it’s one thing that has been the most instinctual thing I’ve done it’s this: I thank everyone who has ever signed up for organ donation, because they might save another little girl like me.”