Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 31, 1990 TAG: 9005310166
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sarah Hill, who spent just 40 hours in the intensive care unit at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh after the May 22 operation, was to be discharged today.
Both accomplishments are records at the hospital for liver transplant patients, said hospital spokesman Margy Buczynski.
Sarah will spend the next phase of her recovery at a Pittsburgh Ronald McDonald House, visiting an outpatient clinic at the hospital twice a week for further treatment.
The 8-year-old girl had two liver disorders - biliary atresia that causes blockage of bile ducts and a large cyst inside the liver.
In 1983, doctors predicted that she would not live to see her second birthday without a transplant. Friends and relatives in Richmond and the Roanoke Valley then raised nearly $190,000 for the operation.
Sarah's father, Harold Hill, was a well-known athlete at Cave Spring High School in the early 1960s. Her grandparents still live in Franklin County.
The transplant was delayed because Hill's condition improved and because a suitable liver wasn't available, said her mother, Corinne Hill.
Meanwhile, the money was kept in a trust where it has been earning interest. The fund now totals $280,000.
Although the Hills' commercial health insurance covers transplants, they still will need much of the money for high-priced medication, which Sarah must take for the rest of her life, that is only partly covered by insurance.
Any remaining money will be donated to other children who need transplants, Corinne Hill said.
by CNB