8-month-old unexpectedly dies from liver failure after being taken to the ER on Thanksgiving

MENTOR, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - An Ohio community is rallying behind the family of an 8-month-old girl who died suddenly from liver failure.

More than $40,000 have been raised for the parents of Oakley Vargo after her tragic loss.

Chrissy and Eric Vargo said their daughter was a happy baby who loved to make others smile.

“Just lit up the room, and when you walk in the room, everybody had to come up to her to say something to her, just so many comments, so many good things,” Eric Vargo said. “She just made people’s day.”

On Thanksgiving Day, her parents said she was not acting like her normal self.

“We just kind of figured she’s got another tooth coming in there, but by Thanksgiving evening, after smiling and laughing that morning, she had gotten sick, and we figured, ‘Oh, goodness we better take her into the ER,’ because it wasn’t a normal color that we were seeing coming out of her,” Chrissy Vargo said. “Then before we knew it, it was like rapid fire.”

Doctors told Oakley’s parents her liver was failing.

The Vargos said they had family members offer up a piece of their livers to save her life.

“Unfortunately, somehow she was too far down, and her brain swelled and we had to make a decision because she wasn’t getting any more blood to her brain,” Chrissy Vargo said.

Within about 72 hours, they were saying goodbye to their baby.

The Vargos said doctors have not been able to determine what happened to Oakley.

“It’s hard I think for us, it would be nice to get a reason to help others potentially in this situation,” Chrissy Vargo said. “I think from our personal perspective it’s hard to think she may have been sick beforehand because she was just so happy and healthy and moving around like crazy.”

A Special Wish Foundation helped give Oakley and her family a special final moment.

“They gave her a Christmas she was never going to have,” Eric Vargo said.

The organization decorated a Christmas tree with ornaments and put up decorations in her hospital room.

“That’s very special to us that A Special Wish that quickly said, ‘We got this, we have you, we have her, let’s give her a Christmas,’ so we had that one last special night with her,” Chrissy Vargo said.

They hope Oakley’s smile and the love she radiated will always be remembered.

“To say that we’re proud as parents that our daughter would just spark so much love, overwhelming love is just incredible in eight months,” Chrissy Vargo said.