ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - One-year-old Gwen Cooper is all smiles. But one year ago, her life looked very different.

At only a few months old, Gwen was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease that impacts infants. Her parents said it was devastating news that came after weeks of tests.

“I remember when the doctor told us, ‘You know, it is either not good or very bad, right?’ And I was like ‘well, there has got to be something right, and she’s like no,’” said Matt Cooper, Gwen’s dad.

After an unsuccessful Kasai procedure, Gwen was placed on the liver transplant list.

“We had a lot of people step up and call the hotline to start the process to donate portions of their liver,” recalled Matt.

One of those people, a close family friend, turned out to be a perfect match.

See Full Page