Sofia’s recovery from a life saving liver transplant

On her 16th birthday, on October 11th 2024, Sofia Kohl received a diagnosis no teenager or her family should ever have to face—Hepatocellular neoplasm (NOS) a rare and aggressive form of liver cancer. By the time it was discovered, tumors had already overtaken more than 75% of her liver, making surgery, to attempt to save her liver, impossible.

Since that day, Sofia has endured months of chemotherapy and multiple invasive surgeries with remarkable courage, strength, grace and resilience!—fueled by the fierce love and determination of her mother, Julie.

Sofia will be a junior at Beaumont High School in the fall, has straight A’s, loves her Mom, her dog Josie, the theater and her favorite band, Green Day.

Despite every effort, the remaining tumors were still inoperable. Her only hope was a full liver and bile duct transplant.

On Friday, April 10th while undergoing another chemotherapy treatment, Sofia was officially placed on the national liver donor registry. In an extraordinary turn of events, less than 24 hours later, she got the call—a match had been found. On Saturday evening, she underwent transplant surgery. Thanks to the incredible team at the Cleveland Clinic , the life-saving gift of organ donation & the donor and their family, the transplant has thus far been a success. However there are multiple hurdles, challenges and obstacles ahead to save her life.

Sofia is now beginning the long journey of recovery—one that will involve weeks in the hospital, months of follow-up care, and a lifetime of medications and treatments to prevent organ rejection.

We are, with the extraordinary generosity, of all of you, raising funds to help cover the many costs that have been incurred and will no doubt accompany a long-term recovery, up to and including:

- Medical expenses not covered by insurance

- Anti-rejection medications

- Travel and lodging for out-of-town hospital visits

- Time off work for her caregivers

- Other unexpected expenses or complications along the way

We are profoundly grateful to the teams at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (link) and the Cleveland Clinic (link) for their outstanding care. If you haven’t already, please consider becoming an organ donor (link).

We know times are tough, and any support—whether a donation, sharing this page, simply keeping Sofia in your thoughts and prayers or potentially becoming an organ donor yourself, means the world to us.

With sincere gratitude from those who love her dearly,

Julie Kohl

Adam Portner

Josh & Kristen Lovinger

Kristen Clarico