Newspaper Helps Family Find Health Care For Sick Child

By: Emily Vaughan Few things scare new parents more than birth defects. For the Cowell family in Owatonna, Minn., their daughter Ava's health has been an ongoing struggle.

Ava was born with volvulus, a life-threatening condition in which the intestines abnormally twist. While an early surgery fixed that, it led to more medical problems. In December 2007, a failing liver left Ava with only one option: a transplant.

With a prognosis of less than a year to live without the transplant, Ava?s family underwent tests to find a suitable donor. None of them matched. By mid-December, the Cowells were desperate.

Help came by way of the local newspaper. ?Ava needs a miracle? ran on the front page of the Owatonna (Minn.) People?s Press on Dec. 19. On Jan. 4, Sara Kaiser, 23, also a single mom and college student, underwent surgery and donated 25% of her liver to the 18-month-old.

Reporter Jeff Cagle started following Ava?s story in July 2007, when Lauri Cowell left him a voicemail telling him about her granddaughter. His first story about Ava appeared later that month. He continued to follow the Cowells, and wrote follow-ups until Ava?s transplant surgery.

"It?s rare to see a baby who has spent most of her life in a hospital, and you know how readers respond to babies,? he said. ?I knew it would make a difference.?

The articles elicited an outpouring of support from the Owatonna community. The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., where Ava was to undergo surgery, received so many calls as a result of Cagle?s article that the center asked the Cowell family to get people to stop calling. A 13-year-old girl even called Erica Cowell, Ava?s mother, offering her liver.

But both Cagle, and the Owatonna People?s Press managing editor say the community?s response isn?t surprising.

?That sort of thing defines the community here,? Managing Editor Robert Gibson said. ?Nobody here is going to suffer, because people here are looking out for them.?

Ava?s medical troubles aren?t over. In his final article, Cagle reported that Ava will remain in the hospital for at least two months, and she?s still on a ventilator to help her breathing. Doctors don?t know when she?ll be healthy enough to breathe on her own, but Kaiser?s generosity has eliminated the immediate threat. And none of it would have been possible without Cagle.

"The nicest compliment I ever received, and both of the families said this, they?re saying I?m the one who saved Ava?s life,? Cagle said. ?I don?t think of journalists with that kind of title. I usually think of lifesavers as firefighters and doctors and nurses, never journalists. But when you hear that, it makes you feel really good.?