07/24/2025
God Bless the hero, his family and the gift he gave, prayers to the little cowboy for complete healing
I told you all about baby Bodie Lane Phillips being in desperate need of a liver transplant about six weeks ago. The response by our rodeo family—the prayers and volunteer testing to see if you were a possible match—was overwhelming. I know it was frustrating at times, when there were what felt like constant delays and hair-splitting details and roadblocks when the search was on for the perfect match. I am thrilled to let you all know that baby Bodie just received his miracle gift, and mom Erin and dad Parker say their little man has immediately responded in so many positive ways!
A week ago today, while Erin was still in the hospital after an appendicitis attack, complete with scary complications, she got word that a family the Phillips did not even know had lost their 14-year-old son to a freak golf cart accident. That boys’ heartbroken parents chose to bless other families with their beautiful boy’s organs. There was a phone conversation between the two sets of parents, and Brodie found his perfect miracle match. The Phillips family had been hoping and praying for a partial living donation. This whole liver, complete with vasculature and biliary tree, was even better.
Bodie’s wait was finally over. He was wheeled into surgery at Stanford alongside the boy who was his hero, who will now live in Bodie and all the other kids he helped. Bodie has rebounded like the little rockstar he is, and was extubated and weaned off of sedation over the weekend. Momma Erin reports that they can already see a visible change in their baby boy, who’ll turn 1 in September. “His jaundice is almost completely gone, and his skin and eyes look brand new,” she said. “He truly looks like a different kid.”
I just wanted to pass along this amazing news, and thank you all again…from this sweet young family and from me, too…for praying for this miracle for the Phillips family. Let’s not forget the family of the boy who gave Bodie and others the gift of life. I know the Phillips family never will.