Featured Fundraising Stories
Brooke Yamada
Like all good and responsible first time parents-to-be, Mina and Taka Yamada planned everything perfectly for the arrival of their first child, Brooke. However, what they didn’t plan was for Brooke to be born with a cyst near her liver that ultimately caused her to have liver failure.
Brooke was one week shy of turning 4 months old, and her mother took her into her pediatrician’s office because of what appeared to be just a runny nose. When the doctor saw her, she didn’t even check her nose. Instead, she focused solely on her stomach. Within seconds, the routine doctor’s visit turned into a forever life-changing experience for Mina, Taka and especially for their precious child. Brooke was having liver failure.
The parental journey for the next two weeks went from worrying about next baby milestones to hit, to trying to stabilizing her health in order to have a liver transplant.
Though the weight seemed unbearable at many times, Brooke pulled through and her liver was successfully transplanted almost three weeks after she was initially admitted to ER.
It has been almost 6 years since Brooke’s transplant. And though she tries to live as normal of a life as any other child, the reality is that her liver can reject her body at any given time. A normal child’s virus, such as the chicken pox or the flu, can sometimes admit her to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) at Egleston, where she was transplanted. This is due to Brooke’s immune system being compromised from anti-rejection medications that she will be on for the rest of her life.
Many of our family and friends ask how they can show their support. To honor Brooke’s bravery, we’d like to ask everyone to purchase one of her favorite pieces of jewelry, or any others that you may like. We Are One Designs will donate portions of the proceeds to the Childlife Fund at CHOA. We chose the Childlife division at CHOA because whenever Brooke has to go to the hospital, it’s Childlife at CHOA that inspires her to smile outside of her family and friends. Childlife brings the clowns that make the children laugh, holds free musical concerts for the children and their families in the main lobby, and provides books, DVDs, and games in all the playrooms. Whatever it takes to bring the comfort of home, their staff will do to help children enjoy being kids, even if only for 5 minutes. For Brooke, even when she doesn’t feel well, she still enjoys the playrooms. And knowing that her fund is going to support a great cause will make hospital visits seem less anxious.
Your purchase(s) today will greatly benefit so many children at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – just make sure you designate “CHOA” as your fundraising group when making a purchase.
Always thinking of and giving to others is a true representation of who Brooke is, and she would love to see her friends and family wear what she has chosen as her “favorites.”
