A mom saved her two-year-old daughter’s life after she donated her liver.
Elle Daniel, 35, gave her daughter Ruby a piece of her liver in June 2025, after the toddler was diagnosed with liver disease.
Ruby was born with an ultra-rare genetic condition called PMM2-CDG, which affects many parts of the body.
Symptoms vary from person to person, and Ruby’s condition means she suffers from difficulty with speech and movement, and liver failure.
The yoga teacher, from London, said that since the operation, Ruby has grown in size and has so much energy, but still suffers from other complications due to her condition.
Elle, who is raising awareness of her daughter’s rare condition, said: “Ruby has an extremely rare condition called PMM2-CDG, and at two years old, she can’t crawl or speak.
“Last year, all the color drained from her, and she was feeling sick most of the time, then she started having seizures.
“Doctors said she was showing signs of liver failure and recommended a transplant.
“It was the worst news, but also kind of the best news, because she had a life-threatening condition, but at least there was an option to fix it.
“I decided to be her donor; it was a very natural instinct for a parent, and I’m fit and healthy, so I figured my liver would be good to go.
“I couldn’t see her for two days after the surgery, because I was completely incapacitated. It was so nice to be finally reunited.
“Since the surgery, Ruby has so much more energy; she can sit up on her own now, and she’s grown so much.
“It’s quite amazing to see, she went from looking like a really poorly child to being much more vibrant.
“Her life has really improved due to the transplant, but she’s still not cured.
“So little is known about her condition, so I’m trying to raise awareness of it.”
Ruby has struggled with the condition since birth and had to have fluids drained from her heart at just nine weeks old.
At two, she is unable to talk or crawl, and also has issues with her kidneys, and her gut struggles to absorb nutrition, meaning she looks a lot smaller than many children of the same age.
Ruby was born with liver disease, and when she was one, she began to look extremely washed out and felt nauseous a lot of the time.
Her symptoms worsened, and she began having seizures, leaving her in intensive care.
“She only had a few, but they were really catastrophic, doctors said it was because she had an overload of this toxic waste product in her blood,” Elle said.
Doctors diagnosed Ruby with liver failure and recommended that she get a transplant in December 2024.
Elle immediately knew that she would be the one to give Ruby her liver, so that she could feel like she was doing something to help.
She added that as Ruby’s condition wasn’t immediately life threatening, she would be put on a long list to receive a transplant from a deceased donor, while her condition worsened, whereas Elle could provide her liver much sooner.
Elle underwent a number of tests to see if her liver was a match, and doctors set an initial transplant date for May 2025.
However, before the surgery was due to take place, Ruby began having issues with her kidney, so the procedure was delayed until June.
Elle’s surgery lasted four and a half hours, and doctors removed a small piece of her liver.
As the liver can regenerate itself, Elle’s liver will grow back, and the piece given to Ruby will grow into a full-sized liver.
When she came round, Elle was in intense pain, and Ruby was still in surgery.
“The nurses were coming in to give me updates, I just knew she was going to be OK,” she said.
Elle spent five days recovering in the hospital, whilst Ruby spent two months in King’s College Hospital.
Since the transplant, Elle said it is “amazing” how apparent the benefits are.
“Blood tests that used to hint at liver failure now show a functioning liver,” she said.
She added that, as the liver helps you to absorb proper nutrition and fat, Ruby has grown lots since the surgery, and now has lots more energy.
“She used to look so teeny compared to other children, and now she’s bigger than some of my friends’ children,” she said.
As well as this, Ruby’s motor functions have improved, and she is now able to sit up on her own for the first time.
However, despite the success of the transplant, Ruby still has a number of complications, as when you have a transplant, you have to have immune suppression to stop your body from rejecting the new organ.
Due to her suppressed immune system, Ruby is currently getting bug after bug, causing her difficulties in her chest.
Elle said that three new treatments and a possible cure for PMM2-CDG are currently in the early stages of trials, and she is raising money for research via the CDG UK Just Giving page.
