Local woman seeks organ donations

By Stacey Cameron, NEWS 9

A local-area woman said she will die within a year if she doesn't receive a new liver and kidney.

Krista Bailey's doctors told her that her liver and kidneys are beginning to fail and without a transplant she will die, she said.

Krista was diagnosed with a rare genetic liver disease called glycogen storage disease when she was nine-months-old, she said. 

"She made it to two," Jan said. "They said she won't be four, and at four, I sent her to kindergarten."

Jan Bailey, Krista's mother, said she loves talking about her daughter Krista, a blue-eyed hair dresser who works in Chickasha.

"I don't feel like I am anything special," Bailey said. "But everybody else seems to think I am."

Krista, now married, is 36-years-old and tries to live a normal life.

"I'm fighting it every day, don't worry about that," Krista said.

She found herself fighting to beat her disease once again. It was three months ago when doctors told Krista her kidneys were failing, she said, and without a kidney and liver transplant, she likely wouldn't live through another year.

"I just live on hope right now," Krista said. "Until they tell me I don't have any, I'm going to keep my hope."

Jan's hope comes in part from the love of Krista's brothers. Each brother tried to save Krista's life by offering a kidney and part of their own liver.  

"That's a lot of love," Jan said.

While Krista's brothers wanted to help, only one brother is eligible to donate. The brother, Jeff, didn't look like a match for Krista, so Jan said she will continue praying.

"I really count on the Lord to get us through," Jan said.