A 2-year-old Ohio toddler is "thriving" after receiving a liver transplant from his aunt and ringing the bravery bell at Cleveland Clinic Children's.
Mom Nicole Dearth told ABC News her youngest child, Crew, was diagnosed in March 2025 with a rare liver cancer, a high-grade Stage 4 hepatoblastoma that had spread to his right lung.
Over a year later, after multiple rounds of "aggressive" chemotherapy and nine months after a transplant surgery, Crew no longer needs any treatment, according to his mom.
"It's a miracle," Dearth said.
"If someone from the outside didn't know his story and what he has been through, you never would know what major things that he has gone through, because he acts like a normal toddler," the mom of four added.
According to the National Cancer Institute, hepatoblastoma is a type of cancer that forms in the tissues of the liver and is the most common type of liver cancer in children, usually affecting children under age 3. Symptoms of a hepatoblastoma can include a lump in the abdomen, swelling in the abdomen, pain in the abdomen, unexplained weight loss, loss of appetite, and nausea and vomiting.
Dearth said Crew came down with the flu last year, but his symptoms didn't seem to be getting better with time. She said Crew later underwent imaging, and doctors discovered he had an enlarged liver with a cancerous mass in his abdominal area.
"I was shocked, overwhelmed -- just deep sadness. I just couldn't believe it," Dearth recalled. "Me and my husband Chad, we just could not believe that this is what we were facing with our 11-month-old at the time."
Not long after Crew was diagnosed, his family learned he might need a liver transplant. Crew's aunt, Taylor Dearth, told ABC News she knew deep down she wanted to help him if she could.
"I just felt like it would be meant to be if I was the one that would be able to do it for him," said Taylor Dearth, also a mom of three.
Taylor Dearth said after testing, doctors told her she was a "perfect" match for Crew, and both aunt and nephew underwent transplant surgery at the end of June 2025.
"The first thing that I just wanted to know [after surgery] was if Crew was OK, because I know his surgery was way more intense than mine. So to hear that he was doing well just meant everything," Taylor Dearth said.
Crew and his family eventually got to ring the bell signaling the end of his treatment this past October, and Cleveland Clinic Children's captured the emotional milestone in a video shared with Storyful.
Today, the Dearth family said they hope to raise awareness about childhood cancer and living organ donation by sharing Crew's story.
"I never expected that I would have the opportunity to do this for somebody, and so, I think it's just letting people know that they can become knowledgeable on organ donation and think about the impact that they could make," Taylor Dearth said.
Nicole Dearth added, "I want people to know that pediatric cancer is not rare. It's actually common ... and I want people to be aware that [being a] living donor is an option for people. You don't have to wait and be on the list for days, months, years, if there's a match … and it's a great option."
