Sadie Davis is a 7-year-old girl from New Hope, and her life has always been anything but ordinary
NEW HOPE, Mississippi (WCBI) – Sadie Davis is a seven-year-old girl from New Hope and her life has always been anything but ordinary.
Her mother, Rebecca Davis, says that from the beginning, Sadie struggled with many health problems, which resulted in kidney failure of her left kidney and limited functionality of her right kidney.
“They flew her to Jackson immediately,” Rebecca said. “We spent two months there. In the first month, she had to undergo eight emergency surgeries. The doctors gave her 48 hours to live.”
At three weeks old, she was on dialysis and was able to return home with regular doctor’s appointments.
The doctors said that Sadie should be allowed to live as normal a life as possible because she would need a new kidney one day.
Further complications led several doctors to tell Rebecca that her child was chronically ill.
“But then she was doing well, she was happy, and then about two years ago she got really sick,” Rebecca said. “I took her to Baptist, from where she was flown to Memphis, and we’ve been here ever since.”
Within a month of arriving in Memphis, Sadie was placed on the transplant list.
“They started talking to us about whether they would be eligible to be a living donor or whether they would be willing to do that,” Rebecca said.
When it comes to transplants, there is never a guarantee of a match within the family.
A long-time friend, colleague and former teacher of Sadie was considered for this.
Tracy Smith says she felt strongly that she wanted to do this for Sadie.
“Sadie was in desperate need of something,” Smith said. “I was confronted with that and knew that if there was anything I could do, I wanted to help. I had a strong feeling that God was telling me, ‘If you can do this, then you should do it.’ About a month later, I found out I was pregnant.”
And pregnancy was a complication of the procedure.
“There were a lot of factors we prayed about, and we found that Rebecca would be a great fit,” Smith said.
“I knew without a doubt that I would be her girl,” Rebecca said.
In April, Sadie’s remaining kidney was removed.
Now it is time for the transplant, her family has hope.
And the community that was there for the Davis family in the past is here now.
Her church, her workplace, Sadie’s school and the surrounding schools supported her.
“It’s a joy to know that you have people there,” Rebecca said. “We’re praying that everything goes well and that my baby accepts this kidney. With God’s grace, He will get her through this. And she will be able to come home and live a happy life.”
Rebecca says this shows how important organ donation is, especially living donations.
“Knowing that you can give a part of yourself to help someone else is just a blessing,” Rebecca said. “I encourage everyone to look into it and educate themselves on it, just because you know you can save someone else’s life.”
Schools in the area, including New Hope Elementary and Caledonia Elementary, are wearing green to show their support for Sadie.
Sadie’s family says they are grateful for the Lebonheur dialysis unit.
To register as an organ donor, visit MSDH.ms.gov
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