Video: Transplant surgery can save a child's life

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SHORELINE - Transplant surgery to save a child's life is rare.

Even so, it was necessary for two young cousins, Bekka Haltiner and Casey Menish. And now they've become best pals. 

Perky 4-year-old Bekka Haltiner almost didn't survive infancy.

We first brought you her story four years ago. A rare condition made her tiny body unable to absorb food.

After a move to Nebraska and a year of waiting, Bekka got a transplanted liver and intestine. It happened at one of the few hospitals that performed the procedure back then. It was her second chance at life.

And it may have been the one good that came from another child's death, her donor.

"We had to focus on the loss of somebody else, the same little size as her," said Raina Haltiner.

The circumstances were fortunately very different for her cousin. Thirteen-year-old Casey Menish needed a kidney.

His donor is very much alive. It's Casey's father, Paul.

"When he heard he could give his kidney to me, he was like 'let's do it,'" Casey said.

Dr. Patrick Healey, division chief of transplantation at Seattle Children's Hospital, says a child may have a parent that's a donor match. But the donor can also be unrelated.

He says there's something else many people don't realize: Most donors to children actually are adults. Advances in the procedures have made it possible.

"In the situation of a liver transplant for instance, you can transplant a part of the liver, and it will function as a whole organ," Healey said.

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Bekka Haltiner and Casey Menish

Transplants have given these cousins two things to treasure, their bond, and plans for their futures.

"Like brush my teeth by myself, go to bed by myself, and have a baby, and have kids," Bekka said.

Bekka's mother says her doctors have told her those high hopes are not out of the question. 

Of the 98,000 people waiting for transplants in the United States, 2,500 are children.