Paying forward the gift of life

The Charleston Gazette | McKenzie Mays
Photo: Taitlyn Hughes (right) and her sister attend a WVU game. Hughes, of Martinsburg, died from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 12 last November. An avid football fan and registered organ donor, Hughes' memory is living on through Nefeterius McPherson of Killeen, Texas.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Nefeterius McPherson is a fifth-generation Texan, but she wore gold and blue at West Virginia University's game against the University of Texas in Austin last weekend. The shirt belonged to Taitlyn Hughes, 12, of Martinsburg, who died of a sudden brain hemorrhage last November.

"I always knew I was supposed to share our story," said McPherson, a 38-year-old lawyer from Killeen, Texas. "I'm getting a second chance at life because of this beautiful spirit that had to go."

McPherson was diagnosed with Secondary Schlerosing Cholangitis, a rare bile duct and liver disease, in her first year of law school at Southern Methodist University.

By May of last year, she was added to a liver transplant list.Read more

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