People have been left outraged after discovering that a seven-year-old girl in Alabama is selling lemonade inside her family-owned bakery to fund her brain surgeries.
Elizabeth Scott is the mother of Liza who suffered a seizure earlier this year, leading doctors to discover "multiple cerebral malformations in Liza's brain that require immediate attention to prevent further seizure, possible bleeding, hemorrhage, or stroke."
Scott said that while doctors typically only find one of these malformations, her daughter has three.
In an interview with CBS 42, she said: "She has three cerebral malformations. One is what they call a schizencephaly. So it's a cleft in the frontal lobe in the right side of her brain, and we think that's what causing the seizures."
Scott explained that her daughter now needs to have surgery at Boston Children's Hospital, 1,275 miles away from their home.
Despite Scott purchasing additional medical insurance to help fund the surgery, the family has still been left with $10,000 out-of-pocket as a result of additional travel, hotel, and medical expenses.
The seven-year-old is therefore attempting to offset some of this cost by selling lemonade for $25.
"I can't handle it. So, I hope I make it," Lisa said. "My mom keeps saying I'm going to, but I feel like I'm not."
As remarkable as little Lisa is, after her story was broken, many people took to social media to share their frustrations about the current state of the US healthcare system.
One Twitter user wrote: "The fact that a seven year old [sic] has to raise money for her own brain surgery is so unfathomably evil that no words could possibly do it justice. We need Medicare for All immediately."
A second added: "I'm so sick of articles like this. Give me a detailed explainer on why a 7-year-old girl cannot get brain surgery, who is responsible, and who is profiting. Focusing on the lemonade stand is letting everyone who created the system that forced her into this off the hook."
A third wrote: "The American pay-to-live healthcare system is inhumane. No child should have to sell lemonade to pay for brain surgery. We need a #MedicareForAll healthcare system. Everyone in. Nobody left out. No co-pays, no deductibles, free at the point of service."
Meanwhile, a fourth summed up the story, writing: "This is not a feel-good story."
Hopefully, Lisa is able to make the money she needs for her surgery.
