Firefighters Help Check Off Teen's 'Liver, Christmas Lights' List

WOODSTOCK, GA — Cherokee County firefighters made Christmas a little brighter for a 14-year-old girl in Woodstock who recently had a liver transplant.

Fire Capt. Scott Gwinn said a friend, Mark Wills, contacted him to help decorate the house of Bella Pacini, 14, of Woodstock.

"(She) asked for two things for Christmas: a new liver and her house to be decorated for Christmas,” Gwinn said.

According to Bella’s mother, Tracy, “That phone call turned into a group of unbelievable men and women decorating our house for Christmas. Bella always says we never have enough lights and that we always needed to go bigger. This awesome group of people turned that into a reality and made it bigger and better than she ever imagined. She was speechless when she came home the day after Thanksgiving.”

Bella was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 6. She was later diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, which affects the bile ducts. During the last two years, Bella’s condition began to get worse, and she needed a new liver. On Feb. 20, doctors put Bella on a waiting list for a new liver. After waiting for months, Tracy finally got the call Nov. 18. Bella underwent a successful liver transplant the following day and was released from the hospital Nov. 29.

Numerous Cherokee County firefighters traveled to her home Nov. 25 to decorate it before Bella returned home. Firefighters and Wills, a country music star, spent time stringing lights and getting the home prepared. Shine, a local company that installs lights during the Christmas season, also stepped in to help.

“She was speechless when she came home the day after Thanksgiving," Tracy said. "When we showed her pictures of our firefighters and Shine decorating the house while she was in the hospital, she got teary-eyed and said, 'That’s so cool.'"

Tracy also said her family always knew that they would love living in Cherokee County because it has such a small-town feel that they love so much.

Cherokee County firefighters said they were glad to make Bella’s Christmas a little brighter this season.