Baby with Down syndrome dies after transplant list removal, as his parents vow to fight for others

A Missouri couple announced that their seven-month-old son with Down syndrome died just weeks after being withdrawn from the liver transplant waitlist at Children's Mercy Hospital. He was treated as too ill for the procedure, despite having overcome infections. 

Key Takeaways:

• Barrett Breznik was removed from the liver transplant list on March 4, with hospital staff stating he was too sick to receive the transplant he needed.

• Barrett's mother told a local news station that despite her son's tragic death, she and her husband "will advocate for other babies with Down syndrome dealing with significant illnesses."

• People with intellectual disabilities are routinely denied life-saving organ transplants.

The Details:

Wesley and Ashley Breznik, both in the medical field, were notified on March 4 that their son, Barrett, had been taken off the liver transplant list in Kansas City due to an infection. Barrett had Down syndrome.

Barrett's father, Wesley, told FOX4 at the time, "We know how sick he is. For us, it's a pretty simple thing here… if he can get [a transplant] and survive, he lives. If he doesn't get one, he doesn't live. So, for us, it's a no brainer, that's why we're trying everything we can."

However, even after the infection cleared, doctors said he was too sick to receive a transplant.

A ventilator was sustaining Barrett’s life, and he died in late March.

Barrett's mom, Ashley Breznik, told FOX4 the heartbreaking news:

“Barrett passed away comfortably in our arms with family and beautiful staff in the chapel of Children’s Mercy Hospital. Surrounded by God’s presence and love, the one thing he knew most.

Barrett won, we will continue to carry his story. We will continue to help parents advocate for their kids. We will advocate for other babies with Down Syndrome dealing with significant illnesses. We thank everyone for the help, prayers and selflessly offering partial organ donation to save our sweetest boy.” 

The Backstory:

Barrett had heart surgery in November last year, and struggled with several infections. At around eight weeks post-operation, doctors discovered Barrett had cirrhosis; he would need a liver transplant.

Barrett’s care team initially included him on the transplant list, but after a new bloodstream infection surfaced, medical staff suspended his status on March 4 as they treated the infection. 

Ashley said doctors had hoped to reassess Barrett a week afterward, and his most recent blood tests had showed no indications of infection. But doctors did not give the green light.

“They made the decision that Barrett’s too sick to receive a liver transplant here in Kansas City,” Ashley said.

“I was devastated. To get a little hope and then, seemingly, in like a week, 10 days just ripped away. And that's not their fault, they're trying to do their best that they can do,” Wesley added.

“We fully understand how sick he is. It's all so overwhelming. We just want to make sure we have no stone left unturned and that we've done everything we can and advocated for him,” Ashley added. 

Ashley revealed that with support from the Children's Mercy pediatric ICU staff coordinating outreach, the family had contacted about 10 hospitals — but help did not come in time for Barrett.

Why It Matters:

Barrett’s tragic case demonstrates a disturbing devaluation of disabled lives. This trend ominously underscores the epidemic of how some people with disabilities, particularly Down syndrome, encounter blanket exclusions from transplants, notwithstanding legal safeguards.

While federal laws require individualized assessments relying on medical evidence and not prejudiced stereotypes, some hospitals allege “quality of life” concerns to justify their discriminatory refusals against disabled people and prioritize their more “able-bodied” peers instead. 

Sandra Jensen

Discrimination against disabled lives is not unique, in light of Sandra Jensen's 1995 battle. Hospitals refused her heart-lung transplant because of her Down syndrome, assuming poor post-op compliance, until Stanford University Medical Center accepted Jensen for transplant.

A 2019 National Council on Disability report divulged that people with disabilities are frequently denied for heart, kidney, and liver transplants, based on erroneous quality-of-life assumptions, violating the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. 

“Organ transplants save lives. But for far too long, people with disabilities have been denied organ transplants as a result of unfounded assumptions about their quality of life and misconceptions about their ability to comply with post-operative care,” the National Council on Disability (NCD) said. “Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, organ transplant centers and medical professionals are often unaware that this prohibition applies to the organ transplant process.”

Veya Vanderbrugghen

In neighboring Canada, baby Veya Vanderbrugghen, who also had Down syndrome, was denied a breathing tube and living-donor liver transplant at SickKids Hospital. Her parents fought valiantly for her before her death in 2025, but because of her disability, she was not treated as she should have been. 

The Bottom Line:

All human life has value and equal dignity, regardless of ability.

Health facilities refusing crucial life-saving care to vulnerable populations reeks of the inhuman practice of eugenics, prioritizing the utility of some human lives over the sanctity of all lives.

Pro-lifers must step up in their efforts to champion for non-discriminatory laws that reinforce the value of all human lives.