Memphis teen in need of kidney after suffering injuries from car wreck

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - For one Memphis mother, the search for a kidney is her top priority as her daughter tries to recover from severe injuries after a car wreck back in July.

For the past three months, 17-year-old M’Leia Allen has been recovering from severe facial and body burns, a broken jaw, and now a deteriorated kidney. The only one she was born with.

“I was like the happy teenager like I did teenager things, and then one day it just all stopped,” said M’Leia Allen.

Allen, an active cheerleader and honor student, didn’t plan on spending her senior year of high school confined to a hospital bed for three months. Two of them were in the ICU and undergoing nine surgeries.

“I think that what hurt me the most is that my body changed, cause I was really confident in my body and now I have skin grafts on my body, and they look weird, and they look very different, so when I first got them I was disgusted by them I’m not gonna lie,” said M’Leia Allen.

On July 9th is when M’Leia’s life turned upside down.

According to the Memphis Police Department, the two-vehicle crash happened after a couple got into an altercation as driving on I-240 West.

Police say a woman in the passenger seat grabbed the steering wheel and caused the driver to swerve and crash into M’Leia’s car. She was ejected from her vehicle.

“I turned my head, I saw her had the wheel, and next thing you know, I feel my body on the concrete,” said M’Leia Allen

“This is so hard for her because her life will never be the same,” said M’Leia’s mother, Tiffany Allen.

Allen sitting by her bedside every day, says medical bills have skyrocketed.

M’Leia is currently on dialysis three days a week, waiting to be placed on a donor kidney transplant list.

“They say it can take years before finding a match she won’t be able to play, and she won’t be able to play sports anymore,” said Allen.

As for M’Leia, she says it’s all about patience taking a road to recovery day by day.

“I just want to be strong and be brave for my mom because I know it’s really hard on her, and I wanna be strong for her,” said M’Leia Allen.

M’Leia is expected to be discharged from Regional One on Oct. 28. Her family is still working to get M’Leia’s name on the kidney donor list. M’Leia’s loved ones created a gofundme for medical expenses.

Click here for the gofundme page.

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