ST. GEORGE — Two St. George parents are telling their story following their 8-month-old daughter's life-changing surgery.
Eliana Tibbs, Elie for short, was born with biliary atresia, a rare liver disorder that only affects a small number of children at birth. Common symptoms include jaundice, which makes the skin and eyes a pale yellow, and pale stools that start around four to eight weeks after birth. Often, a liver transplant is required.
That's exactly what happened to the Tibbs family. The circumstances surrounding the procedure itself were a first for the surgeons at Intermountain Health, and possibly the state of Utah as a whole.
Jasmyn Tibbs, Elie's mother, said she was caught off guard by the circumstances, with staff from Primary Children's Hospital calling her and asking her and her husband Justin Tibbs to bring Elie up to their location in Salt Lake City as soon as possible.
