Cordelia Whatman's long wait is over.
After almost a year of not knowing when or if a suitable donor would be found, the Canberra toddler has received a new liver and is getting better by the day.
Her father, Warrick, said, ''She used to cry yellow tears, now they are clear''.
The 17-month-old had been fighting for her life in The Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney.
The transplant that saved her life occurred a week before she was due to receive a more risky living donor transplant from her mother, Rachel Vance. That operation would have put her mother's life at risk and probably led to severe complications for Cordelia.
Cordelia was critically ill and in intensive care when the life-saving call came a compatible cadaveric liver was available and the operation would happen the next morning. The Canberra Times is unable to say exactly when the operation happened to protect the identity of the donor.
Mr Whatman said, ''I didn't think it would happen. Until they started doing tests, I didn't, couldn't believe it.''
He said the family's happiness was tempered by the knowledge that someone had died and another family was in pain.
''We were so grateful, so grateful that someone was able to make a decision to donate their loved one's organ in difficult circumstances.''
The hospital's transplant surgeon, Dr Albert Shun, said the complex liver transplant operation took 10 hours. On average, the operation takes six to seven.
''A week before the transplant, I operated on a major bleed from her stomach because her liver was so bad,'' Dr Shun said.
Cordelia was diagnosed with biliary artesia at 10 weeks. The bile ducts in her liver were blocked and bile couldn't escape. In July 2007, she had an unsuccessful Kasai procedure, an operation that removes biliary ducts outside the liver and attaches the small intestine to the liver, where bile should drain. It worked for a while, but she got worse.
''We had to put in a new vein from the cadaveric donor. Reconstructing the portal vein added to the complexity,'' Dr Shun said.
Cordelia received the left half of a liver. Livers are generally split so two patients can be helped.
Cordelia's sister, four-year-old Octavia, celebrated her birthday with a smiling Cordelia by her side.
Cordelia will live a relatively normal life, but will take immunosuppressants for the rest of her life to stop her body rejecting her new liver.
Dr Shun said the transformation was amazing.
''She's a very different girl. She will smile at you; before she was grumpy because she was so sick. Now she is active and vibrant.''
Her brittle bones will recover and she will catch up on the growth and development milestones she has missed.
The small number of organ donations in Australia has created lengthy waiting times. Only 1 per cent of deaths occur in such a way that makes organ harvesting possible in Australia.
ACT president of Gift of Life Anne Cahill Lambert said it was a great outcome for Cordelia. ''It was nearly a tragedy but it gives those waiting a lot of hope that their turn will come.''
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