At 15, Emma Mendelssohn was busy planning her homecoming, juggling homework, and dreaming about summer. Then one morning, she noticed her skin turning yellow. She brushed it off — maybe a virus, maybe stress. But weeks later, that faint tint darkened, and exhaustion swallowed her whole.

“I thought it was just a bad stomach bug,” Emma said softly. “I didn’t think I was dying.”

Doctors soon delivered the unimaginable: autoimmune hepatitis, a rare and incurable disease where the body attacks its own liver. Within days, Emma’s organs began to fail. She was told she had one week to live unless she received a transplant. The surgery saved her life — but the fight was far from over.

For years, she battled setbacks, pain, and a second transplant that tested every ounce of strength she had left. “You learn to live with it,” she said. “You figure out how to play your hand.”

Now in her 20s, Emma doesn’t talk about her illness as a tragedy, but as a lesson in courage. She lives carefully — no skydiving, no wild risks — but fully. “I’m still here,” she smiles. “And that’s enough.”

Sometimes, the bravest stories aren’t about beating the odds — but learning how to live with them.