COUNTYWIDE : Boy, Mom to Arrive for Lung Transplant

Twelve-year-old Brian Smith, who is dying from cystic fibrosis, is arriving in the Southland on Thursday in the hopes of getting the lung transplant he needs to live.

Entertainer Wayne Newton has donated the use of his private jet to fly Brian and his mother, Alicia Smith, from their home in Azle, Texas, near Fort Worth, to Long Beach Airport.

Mother and son will be staying with Alicia Smith’s sister Jerri Covington-Morgan and her husband, Terry, who live in Buena Park.

Smith, 39, a single parent, is willing to donate a portion of one of her lungs to her son, whose lungs are deteriorating from cystic fibrosis, a fatal genetic disease.

While the transplant operation is experimental and considered controversial, Smith said it’s worth the sacrifice and risk.

“I love Brian and I want him to be able to live to get older,” Smith said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I want him to have that chance.”

Their trip is being made possible because of Covington-Morgan’s persistence. She called foundations in 32 states before finding one in Las Vegas willing to help with travel expenses.

Children’s Miracle Flights, which recently formed under the wing of parent organization Angel Planes of Las Vegas, is coordinating the flight. The nonprofit organization is made up of pilots and owners of aircraft who make it possible to provide free air transportation for critically ill children, said Paulette Salti, Angel Planes director of marketing and development.

Newton is a member of Angel Planes’ national advisory board.

Smith, who was laid off from her job at an aerospace company in April, said she is overwhelmed by Newton’s generosity.

“I was shocked, and of course, grateful,” said Smith, who lives on $300 a month and spends her days taking care of her ill son.

Next week, Smith said her son will undergo testing and evaluation at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles to determine whether the lung transplant operation can be done.

Regina Birdsell, Childrens Hospital spokeswoman, said that doctors have not yet received all of Brian’s medical records from Texas. However, she said doctors will evaluate his case and determine whether he is suitable for surgery. It also has to be determined if his mother is a matching donor.

“It’s not clear yet if there will be a surgery,” she said.

Birdsell said the hospital’s physicians this year performed three lung transplants in which the parents donated lung lobes to their children.

“So far, they’ve been successful, the kids are doing very well,” she said.

Despite the uncertainty, Brian and his family remain optimistic.

Brian, soft-spoken and shy, said he’s a little scared but excited about the possibility.

“Then, I can ride my bike and swim and do stuff,” he said, adding that he likes to cook and wants to be a chef.

Smith said it has been frustrating for her son, who has not attended school for about five years.

“He just wants to be a normal kid,” she said, adding that the operation would be a miracle. “We don’t have many choices. . . . We’ve got to try. Nobody wants to see their child die.”