Hi, my name is Laura.  I’d like to tell you a story about a beautiful, strong, and courageous 
young woman. Her name is Hannah ONeil. I’m 
her mom. Hannah is more than just my 
daughter though. She is a sister, niece, aunt,
granddaughter and friend.  Hannah has a smile
that can light up a room. She is the kind of
person that you just want to be around. She  
always sees the good in people. Hannah is kind, generous, loving, and sensitive to others 
thoughts and feelings. Hannah also loves the 
outdoors. You might now all these things 
if you were to hang out with her. What you
wouldn’t know, unless she told you, is that she has autoimmune hepatitis and needs a liver
transplant.

Simply put, an autoimmune disease is when 
your body wants to attack itself. There are
many different autoimmune diseases that
people suffer from. In Hannah’s case her
disease is attacking her liver.  She was
diagnosed in 2008. For 12 years she has
worked with multiple doctors in Rochester NY and in Tahoe CA to manage her disease. Her
treatment has been fairly successful until
recently. 

Everyone is going to have a story to tell about 2020. All of our stories will be different, but allwill be real and significant. I want to share 
Hannah’s 2020 with you. In February Hannah was still in California. She was feeling sick, and
could hardly stand up. She was taken to the
emergency room and was found to be severely anemic. She had 3 blood transfusions and had
3 liters of fluid drawn off her abdomen. She 
spent 2 days in the hospital and was sent
home. The following week she was back in the 
emergency room with the same symptoms. 
At that point the decision was made to come 
back east and to be seen in Boston ( and be
closer to home:) ). Hannah is staying in Cape 
Cod with a friend who has generously opened her home to our whole family.  Since moving 
back, Hannah has been in the hospital twice.
The first time is when they found she had
bleeding in her esophagus, hence the anemia
and the need for blood transfusions. She has
had 5  endoscopy’s. and had multiple 
medication adjustments. She has been on 
blood pressure medications, diuretics and 
immunosuppressant drugs.  At this point
she is stable. She has been on a low salt all 
organic diet which has contributed to her
health as well.  I can’t tell you how many visits 
to the hospital and doctors Hannah has had
this year but I can tell you that at this point 
she is on the list to receive a liver. The testing 
shows that she is able to have a living donor.

Myself , her sister Elizabeth and a few others
have the same blood type. It has been shown
that a sibling is the best choice if possible
Elizabeth has courageously stepped up. She  
has completed the first part of the evaluation. She must complete the second half of the
evaluation, which at this point, she does not
have a date for. We are hoping that after she
has completed the second half of the
evaluation she will be able to be the donor for Hannah. Once the donor is determined a date for surgery will be set. I will keep you updated 
as I get more information.

Which brings me to the reason for sharing 
Hannah’s story. Hannah was supposed to start a job the very day Massachusetts shut down
the state due to the corona virus. Her health 
continued to decline. She has been very 
limited financially but has been able to take 
advantage of some state programs for a short  time. We have been able to give her some
financial support along with other who have 
generously given of their time and
Finances. Hannah cant work at this point
due to her low immune system. Her
medications at this point are 130.00/ month.
 She has travel expenses to and from Boston. 
She has co-pays and a 6000.00 deductible.  
Her recovery time will be 6-8 weeks. She will
be on new medications and an anti rejection 
medication for the rest of her life. At this pointher medical bills are starting to come in. Any 
state benefits she is getting now will end in 
December. She has been through a lot up to
this point but still has much ahead of her. I am asking as a mom, who wants to see her
daughter survive and thrive into a hopeful
future, that you would take the time to 
consider giving to Hannah.  It’s all about her. 
I thank God in advance for the miracles we willsee. On behalf of Hannah’s whole family, thankyou from the bottom of our hearts