News
Community unites to raise money for teen's liver transplant
News-Observer, Raleigh-Durham, NC
In mid-January, 16-year-old Marie Neal was feeling great. The vivacious teenager, active in swimming and drama at Athens Drive High School, was at the top of her game, preparing for a major meet.
In less than a week, she was on a liver transplant list, battling for survival.
It started the night Marie woke up feeling queasy and lightheaded. She ran for the bathroom and threw up.
The color was a dark burgundy. Though everything in her body screamed to crawl back to bed, she decided she’d better wake her father.
“She came to me and said something like, ‘Dad, I just threw up! You wanna see?’” said Joe Neal, a professor of horticulture at N.C. State. His first reaction: No thanks.
But something in Marie’s demeanor told him it was serious.
