F4LC opens fund for four pediatric liver transplants in Mexico

Fight For Life Club Foundation opened a new fund to support four children in Mexico who are being evaluated for living-donor liver transplants at the Instituto Nacional de Pediatría in Mexico City. The nonprofit set a public goal of MXN 1 million and will pay medical and non-medical costs directly to providers against invoices.

Why it matters: - Fight For Life Club Foundation is trying to remove the non-medical costs that can keep a child from reaching a transplant, even when surgery is medically possible. - The fund is aimed at four children under age 2 who need living-donor liver transplants in Mexico City. - Living donation remains one of the few realistic options for many children in Mexico with severe liver disease.

What happened: - Fight For Life Club Foundation opened its Circle of Life Fund for four children being evaluated or prepared for living-donor liver transplants at the Instituto Nacional de Pediatría in Mexico City. - The foundation set a public fundraising goal of MXN 1,000,000, or about USD 55,000. - The foundation said it will report progress toward the goal openly. - The four children are Vasthi, 1, from the State of Mexico; Lucca, 20 months old, from Mexico City; Camila, 11 months old, from Campeche; and Eliel, 14 months old, from Jalisco. - Each child has serious liver disease and is being evaluated for a transplant in which a healthy adult relative would donate part of the liver.

The details: - F4LC covers medical and non-medical expenses that can derail a transplant, including donor testing, family travel, lodging, medications and recovery support. - Payments go directly to hospitals, laboratories and suppliers against invoices. - The foundation does not practice medicine and does not select patients. - Eligibility is determined by the treating medical team. - Donors do not choose which child is helped. - Contributions support Vasthi, Lucca, Camila and Eliel, and if a case changes for medical reasons, the next eligible child. - In 2025, F4LC said two pediatric living-donor liver transplants were performed at INP in a single week with its support, and three children received living-donor transplants within three months. - F4LC presented that experience at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation. - In an earlier campaign, F4LC raised MXN 1.5 million for a single dual surgery. - Ailani received part of her uncle’s liver at INP in September 2026, and she and her uncle left the hospital hand in hand. - F4LC says Ailani’s case shows four more children can follow the same path.

Between the lines: - The fund is designed to solve a common failure point in pediatric transplants: families can be forced to pause care while they cover travel, lodging, testing and medicine. - The model relies on direct provider payments and documented invoices, which is meant to keep donations tied to specific expenses. - The group’s emphasis on living donation reflects the shortage of deceased-donor options for children in Mexico. - Mexico’s National Transplant Center reported that 148 children died waiting for a liver from 2014 to 2024. - At the end of 2025, 48 patients ages 0 to 19 were on the national liver waiting list. - In 2025, INP performed five of the 14 pediatric living-donor liver transplants recorded in Mexico. - José Manuel Cadena Ortiz de Montellano, founder and president of F4LC, said: “Our job is to give every child a second chance at life.”

What's next: - The foundation will keep fundraising until it reaches the MXN 1 million target. - If one child becomes medically ineligible, the money will shift to the next eligible child. - Families and donors can support the effort through the donation page. - Companies can sponsor one child’s pathway, match employee gifts or run workplace campaigns. - Corporate partners receive itemized reports showing how funds were used. - The foundation says contributions are tax-deductible in the United States to the extent allowed by law. - F4LC also points readers to its magazine for stories about its work, including Ailani’s case and the four children now in the program.

The bottom line: - F4LC is betting that direct payment of transplant-related costs can turn more medically possible surgeries into completed transplants for children who have little time to wait.