As toddler Crew Dearth zooms a firetruck across the floor, his mom, Nicole, watches with a full heart, grateful for a moment that once felt uncertain.

“Our whole family is just all smiles, so happy,” Nicole said. “Seeing him healthy again means everything.”

Earlier this year, that happiness was far from guaranteed. In March, Crew was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer that had already spread to his lungs. He was just 11 months old.

“I honestly was in shock. I felt like I couldn’t breathe,” Nicole recalled. “You don’t think your baby is going to have cancer.”

Doctors soon delivered another difficult reality: Crew would need a liver transplant. The tumor was wrapped around critical blood vessels, making surgery impossible without replacing part of his liver.

“The tumor was located around important vessels, all the things that make the liver work,” said Dr. Stefanie Thomas, Crew’s oncologist. “There was no safe way to remove it.”

Nicole wanted to be the donor herself, but as Crew’s primary caregiver, doctors worried that option would be too difficult for the family. Then, a perfect match stepped forward: Crew’s aunt, Taylor.

“I just had this immediate feeling that I wanted to do it for him,” Taylor said. “I can’t imagine him not here with us. He’s just this little ray of sunshine.”

The transplant was a success. By October, Crew reached a milestone his family once only hoped for, he was declared cancer-free.

“It’s a beautiful thing what Taylor did for him,” Nicole said. “To see him thriving and as healthy as he is because of her, I’ll never be able to thank her enough.”

Today, Crew continues to be monitored by his medical team and is meeting many of his developmental milestones. For his family, every laugh, every step, and every firetruck race across the floor is a reminder of how far he’s come, and how much love helped carry him there.