It's been more than a year since the story of Erika Zak's wait for a liver transplant went viral. But she's still waiting, and her health is deteriorating. So she's speaking up in one last attempt to save her life.
Erika Zak and her family moved across the country more than a year ago to be near the Cleveland Clinic. They wanted to be ready at a moment's notice for a liver transplant that could save her life.
She and her husband, Scott Powers, thought the move would last three months, maybe five. That she would get a new liver and begin the slow process of recovery. Instead, she's been mired in the bureaucratic process of who gets an organ and who dies. "We've been waiting and waiting and waiting," says Erika, 39."I'm losing hope that I will ever get a liver."She vomits blood. Her skin peels off.
— Erika Zak August 11, 2019 Family, friends and strangers alike rallied."I feel beyond loved and supported by all of you these past couple days," she wrote on Instagram."I reluctantly asked for help thinking I had nothing more to lose. I am in awe of the power of community, connection and your compassion."She agreed to speak to CNN only by phone. She didn't want to talk on camera or be photographed anew.
She wonders:"Why has she had all these health issues and not me?"She plans to help Scott raise Loie as best she can, though she would prefer her sister get the transplant and flourish."It's just not fair," she says."I've literally never seen somebody fight so hard to live."In Cleveland, Erika offers this wisdom for people in good health: When she closes her eyes and daydreams, she thinks,"God I wish I never took a moment for granted.
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