Brayden Auten and Camie Loritz are bonded in so many ways.
This 8-year-old boy is lucky to be alive — thanks to the selflessness of a nurse.
Brayden Auten was just a normal kid who loved wrestling. But after competing in the state championship, the little boy began feeling sick at school, and his parents knew something was wrong.
"He is never sick, the healthiest person I know," mom Ruth Auten told Inside Edition.
So they rushed him to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin: Milwaukee, where doctors determined an aggressive virus was attacking his liver.
"I wasn't scared," Brayden said.
Brayden urgently needed a liver transplant. But the odds of finding a donor in time were astronomical.
"It was absolutely terrifying to not know how much time you have left with your child," said dad James Auten.
Word of Brayden's plight spread to the hospital next door, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, where ICU nurse Camie Loritz jumped into action. She knew the clock was ticking for young Brayden.
"He would have died. I don't think that's fair for an 8-year-old," Loritz said, holding back tears.
Loritz, luckily a perfect match for Brayden, donated part of her liver to save his life. The procedure was a success.
When Brayden finally got the all-clear to resume his normal life, there was one special person he wanted to thank: Loritz.
Inside Edition was there when Brayden gave her a big farewell hug. It was an emotional reunion filled with happy tears between two people bonded for life.
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