Aubrey's Story

I was given the opportunity to photograph a very special young lady this past week. This little girl's story, and her mother's struggle to make the most of each day, hit me hard emotionally. I only spent about an hour with her during our photo session, but captured a glimpse of just how special this little girl really was. Over the course of our session, my conversation with her mother, Angelina, made me realize that it could all be gone in a flash. Angelina is all too familiar with this analogy and fights through it only a daily basis, providing strength to her daughter and absorbing every moment of their time together. This is Aubrey's story:

Angelina was blessed with a beautiful baby girl at the age of 20, she named Aubrey. Fully expecting the long sleepless nights and constant changing of diapers, with a 3 month old, was not in the cards for Angelina. Instead she found those sleepless nights occurring in an ICU hospital room until Aubrey was 6 months old. Aubrey was initially taken to the hospital for jaundice and after an examination, she was transferred to Toledo. Days full of tests, x-rays,  and liver biopsies revealed that Aubrey had a rare live disease call Biliary Atresia. She underwent her first major surgery, at only 3 months, to repair a bile duct that had not fully grown releasing bile build up into her liver, causing swelling and scarring. At only 1, she was referred to Cincinnati's Children Liver Transplant Center because the doctors said she would need a new liver before she was 2. Aubrey has gone almost a year without her transplant and continues to beat the odds, riding on the dreams that someday she will wake up to that gift of life. Aubrey's colorful and upbeat personality is an easy distraction from what could have been a dark reality.

The truth is, doctors said that Aubrey would need a new liver before she was 2, and had they never discovered her disease she would have been lost forever. Its astonishing how the past seems irrelevant to this little girl's present and future. Aubrey is clearly not your typical 3 year old, yet lives on the strength and of her mother day to day making each one bright and beautiful. Many of us don't realize just how lucky we are, our kids, family, and friends that live each day with no worries. Not Angelina and Aubrey. Angelina has been told by doctors that Aubrey is a ticking time bomb and the potential for a complication to surface out of nowhere exists that would land them back in an ICU unit waiting on a new liver. Even if Aubrey can stay strong and away from the hospital there are still saddening elements of this disease that will continuer to take a toll on her body. At some point her bones will become so fragile that that a simple fall, any normal kid would shrug off, could cause a break. Angelina knows what challenges Aubrey faces in the future, but makes the most of the time they have together by living in the moment and holding those memories close. I am absolutely honored that I was able to be involved with this family, even if it was only for an hour. In that hour I found a mother that is defined by her will to welcome a new day with new strengths and hopes a daughter battling against the greatest of odds. I found a daughter that is a fighter, beating back a disease that she doesn't understand with bright smiles and graceful laughs. I found a truth within myself that reaffirmed why photography is why true passion. I capture an instant of time that can alter life by holding it still. I hope that the precious moments I captured with Angelina and Aubrey, will provide enough strength and inspiration to assist them on the journey forward. God Bless!

Biliary Atresia

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