A fundraiser will be held Wednesday for a special girl who needs your help.
To see Kourtney Najjar with her service dog Mikey - you'd never know the 7-year old is living in constant pain but the little girl has been since she’s been born.
Diagnosed with a rare disease soon after birth - Kourtney suffers from intestinal failure, her large intestine has been removed. Now, the El Cajon girl needs an expensive multi-organ transplant to survive.
Her mother, Laura Najjar, cares for her daughter and three other children. Kourtney has had dozens of surgeries, takes a list of medications and gets all of her fluids and nutrition through intravenous tubes.
"I'm okay with it. I don't really mind it," said Kourtney.
Every day the family waits anxiously for the call from UCLA medical center for a transplant. Kourtney is waiting for the donation of large and small intestines and a pancreas she needs to survive.
"I've become a nurse. I've become a doctor. I've become her advocate," said Laura who has written a book about the family's battle against this rare disease.
"Her illness is hard no matter what but to see your 7-year old in pain,” said Laura. “I mean she's been in pain since she was born."
"You never know how strong you have to be until you have to do it," she said.
Health
Lauren turned her daily journals of this battle into a book called "Diagnosing Kourtney" -- all the money raised goes to support her daughter. The financial expense is overwhelming.
Without an organ donation and successful transplant soon - the prognosis is uncertain. But he Najjar family is focused on Kourtney's dreams - dreams they hope will one day be possible.
Click here to make a donation in Kourtney's name. A fundraiser will be held Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 pm at Chili's restaurants in Mission Valley and Santee. Click here for the flyer.
