‘ Miracle Mattie’ Beacham lives up to her name
By Audrey Post FSU College of Medicine
Madison“ Miracle Mattie” Beacham earned her nickname the hard way.
As an infant, she was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare, life-threatening disease in newborns that traps bile in the liver and can cause severe liver damage. Normally, bile flows from the liver into the small intestine through bile ducts, but the disease blocks the ducts or prevents them from fully forming. This disease can be fatal because the small intestine needs bile for nutrients to be absorbed.
If caught within 30 days of birth, surgery can repair the bile ducts, but babies born with the condition are more likely to need a liver transplant later in life. However, thanks to advances in medicine, children who are diagnosed and have surgery early often go on to enjoy a long and healthy life, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Unfortunately, Mattie’ s condition wasn’ t diagnosed until her two-month checkup, 63 days after she was born. As soon as she was diagnosed, she was rushed to surgery and underwent a five-hour procedure the next day, her parents praying it wasn’ t too late to save her liver. But in the end, it was.
Mattie’ s journey has included lengthy hospital stays, the loss of fingers on her left hand, and a prognosis so grim that she was, at one point, taken off the liver transplant list and placed in hospice care. Her parents, Michael and Allison Walker Beacham, were told more than once she had only a few hours left, yet each time, she rallied. Mattie received hundreds of blood transfusions. Finally, at 9 months old, she was stable enough to have a liver transplant. The donor was an adult male.
SUMMER 2026 / FSUMED 19
Mattie Beacham gives Carolyn Ceasar, a sophomore in the Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences program, a high-five after they shared cookies and stickers during Rare Disease Day. Ceasar works in the Emergency Department at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, and her training kicked in when she saw Mattie playing in the atrium. She stopped to greet the child and make sure she felt comfortable.
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