Local Teen Faces Lifesaving Liver Transplant After Lifetime Battle With Rare Disease

BROOKVILLE — At an age when most teenagers are focused on school, friends, and planning their future, 16-year-old Zaine Wilmoth, of Corsica, Pa., has spent his life navigating hospitals, procedures, and chronic illness. Now, after years of complications from a rare genetic disorder known as PFIC1, he is preparing for the most serious medical milestone yet — a liver transplant.

Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis Type 1, or PFIC1, is an extremely rare inherited disease that affects the liver’s ability to move bile properly. The condition causes severe itching, malnutrition, fatigue, growth issues, and progressive liver damage. For many patients, transplant becomes the only long-term option for survival.

For Zaine, the condition has shaped nearly every aspect of life since infancy.

“He has never known what normal feels like,” said his great-grandmother, Kathy Wells, who helps care for him. “Other kids worried about homework or sports. We worried about surgeries, medications, and whether he’d make it through the next complication.”

Over the years, he has undergone numerous hospital stays, procedures, and treatments meant to slow the progression of the disease. Despite medical management, his liver has gradually failed.

Recently, doctors determined that transplantation is no longer optional — it is necessary.

But through uncertainty, one thing remains constant — determination.

“He has fought his whole life,” she said. “This is just the next fight. And we believe he deserves the chance to finally live, not just survive.”

Community members wishing to support the family are encouraged to attend the Gift Basket BINGO to benefit Zaine. It will be held at the Clarion Mall on Saturday, February 28th beginning at 6:00 PM. There will also be side raffles, 50/50 raffles along with food and drinks for purchase.