From crisis to courage: Charlotte’s tiny miracle liver transplant gives hope for organ donation across Australia
Baby Charlotte Pegorario went through a more invasive surgery than many would experience in their lifetimes. Fourteen years on, she’s thriving and living proof of the power of organ donation.
Victoria
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At just 11 months old, Charlotte Pegorario went through a more complicated surgery than many Victorians would experience in their lifetimes.
Born with biliary atresia in 2010, she was a sickly shade of yellow from all the bile building up inside her body, with a tummy so swollen doctors had to put taps in to drain the fluid.
At about six months old she was placed on the organ donation waitlist.
“I thought I might not see her again, but I’d spent the whole week with her and I was thinking even if she doesn’t make it, it’s been a lovely week that we’ve had together,” Charlotte’s mother, Carlee Pegorario, told The Herald Sun in 2011.
“I didn’t say goodbye, I just said: ‘Love you’.”
Thankfully, a successful liver transplant from a stranger allowed the beautiful baby girl to live.
Reflecting on that day, 14 years later, her mother remembers just how lucky they had been after such a tough start to Charlotte’s life.
“It was scary, she was a pretty sick little girl. We’d had a failed surgery months earlier where they tried to join part of her intestine to her liver,” Pegorario says.
“So it was a relief at the time that they found a liver that was a good match.”
But there were no guarantees that the surgery would be without complications.
Doctors had told the family that patients like Charlotte would ideally weigh 8kg when they went under the knife. Charlotte weighed just 5.77kg.
“We knew that it was a bit risky and we sort of knew that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park straight after that surgery.”
And it hasn’t been smooth sailing.
Following the transplant, Charlotte twice experienced leaks so she had to go back into surgery and spend weeks in intensive care.
After finally getting the all clear to take their young child home, the family were only in their own beds for three nights before Charlotte experienced a temperature and they were back in hospital.
“It’s so hard because you get the news that the surgery was successful, but she has no immune system and you know there are still risks, and in my head I know … you’ll be constantly dealing with this for the rest of your life,” Pegorario says.
Charlotte’s devoted mother knew it was “what you had to do” in the moment, but reflecting on those years – she admits she rarely talks about it, but there are so many stressful and sleepless nights that she tries to suppress, and just speaking about them now brings up so many emotions.
“You sort of forget about the early days and it was so hard … when you know your baby might die,” she confesses, fighting back tears.
“But I still remember even when I was thinking she might die, I just want to make whatever time she has here good.”
Thankfully Pegorario has been able to spend nearly 5000 good days with Charlotte, now 15, following the transplant – thanks to the ongoing help and care of their local doctors in Kyabram and Shepparton, and biyearly visits to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.
But there have been complications along the way, including a narrowing of her bile duct, which requires a stent, that forces her to have a tube stick out of her stomach.
Despite this, Charlotte is able to ride her bike and go to school where she loves to read, spend time with her friends and has started to enjoy shopping.
And even with the tube in her tummy and dressing over the top to hide it, she was excited to attend school camps, which brought smiles to everyone’s faces.
“She’s been really lucky because there’s so many things she’s been able to do … I’m probably biased but I think she’s a pretty resilient kid,” Pegorario says.
They’re also able to go on holidays to Queensland to visit their cousins, but Charlotte’s next dream adventure is an overseas holiday.
While she would have no recollection of that traumatic time in 2011, Charlotte has become used to the regular trips to Melbourne for check-ups, and is so grateful for all the help she’s received over the journey.
“Thank you to the doctors, nurses and other staff at RCH for all the treatment and care over the years. I wouldn’t be here without it,” Charlotte says. “And to the donor and donor family, thank you for giving me a second chance at life.”
As of June 2025, nearly 1900 Australians are on the organ transplant waitlist, while a further 14,000 are living on dialysis.
One of the biggest roadblocks that doctors face is accessibility to organs. A person must die in a hospital, and their organs need to be functioning well to be considered for transplantation.
In Australia, the family is always asked to agree to donation, with 1450 families asked about donation in the hospital, but just 767 saying yes to donation – representing a 53 per cent national consent rate.
“A quarter of people have been touched by transplant in some way or another, and when people see real-life cases (like Charlotte) that successfully received a transplant it’s so life-changing,” Organ and Tissue Authority chief executive Lucinda Barry says.
Professor and kidney transplant physician Steve Chadban says that dealing with successful transplant procedures gives him “a spring in his step when he leaves home in the morning”, but highlights how surgery is just the first step in the journey.
“I have patients that have gone from dialysis to getting a transplant to living their entire life with that transplant 30 years ago,” Chadban says.
“It is really rewarding, but while organ transplantation is the best treatment we have for organ failure, it’s not a cure. It’s requires ongoing medical care.”
Charlotte’s parents say they will always be eternally grateful to the Royal Children’s Hospital doctors, nurses, and the anonymous donor.
There are currently 138 people in Australia on the liver transplant waitlist, according to the latest 2025 DonateLife statistics.
The wait time can be up to 12 months for a liver, but that can vary due to a multitude of factors, which comes down to the simple fact that Australia needs access to more donors.
“It’s a very hard decision (to become a donor), but just consider what it would be like if it was your child or your loved one,” Pegorario says.
“It is honestly the gift of life because without it Char would’ve died before the age of one, and without that donor and family she couldn’t have done so many things she’s done now.” ■
Originally published as From crisis to courage: Charlotte’s tiny miracle liver transplant gives hope for organ donation across Australia
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