Nathan Wallace, the 4-year-old Chandler boy believed to have been the fifth and youngest person to undergo five liver transplants, died Friday morning at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Fla., two days after his final transplant, said his aunt Debbie Nettles, also of Chandler.
"We knew it was risky, but that’s what we needed to do," Nettles said.
Nathan, the son of Marty and Stefani Wallace, was born with biliary atresia, a disease that affects newborns and causes a blockage between the liver and small intestine. At 7 months, he received a partial liver transplant from Stefani Wallace, but that transplant failed. So did the subsequent four, each for different reasons.
Wednesday, he received what his family was told was the liver of a 2-yearold Arkansas child.
On Thursday, Nathan’s kidneys and liver shut down. Friday morning, he went into cardiac arrest and was put on life support, Nettles said. His parents later decided to take him off of life support, she said.
"They decided he went through so much," Nettles said.
Nathan also is survived by a sister, Morgan, 5. Marty Wallace is a Phoenix police officer.
