Hundreds honor girl who needed liver transplant

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Hundreds honor girl who needed liver transplant

By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer

GLENDALE - She had sparkling blue eyes, a captivating smile and a strong will to live despite her struggle with leukemia. Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old Northridge girl whose death last week sparked a renewed call for health-care reform after she was twice denied a prescribed liver transplant, was buried Friday after a tear-streaked funeral. "Though she is no longer with us physically, she is now resting peacefully in the presence of God," said Archbishop Mousbegh Mardirossian, western prelate for the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, who presided over her funeral. "She is the foundation and hope for tomorrow." Nataline died Thursday just hours after her insurance company, Philadelphia-based Cigna HealthCare, reversed two prior decisions to deny her a liver transplant despite the pleadings of doctors. The insurance company, which deemed the surgery experimental, stated it would pay for the procedure "in this rare and unusual case" after loud public protest. Nataline's case drew national attention among health advocates and Armenian groups calling for reform. "What happened here is a glaring example of what happens when you let the insurance companies decide who lives and who dies," said Geri , co-president of the California Nurses Association, before she attended the funeral. "We've put the insurance companies in the driver's seat - and that needs to change." "We're here because of an insurance failure, not being able to get a patient in time," added Berdj Kasbarian, president of the Hye Riders Motorcycle Club, among two dozen Armenian bikers attending the service.

"We should change the health-care system to a European system, where everybody is covered." More than 800 mourners in black packed the ornate St. 's Armenian Apostolic Church in Glendale to hail Nataline's zest for life. They wore ribbons of pink, her favorite color. And they wiped their eyes before the white and gold casket bearing the Granada Hills Charter High School student. Priests waved chalices of incense as family members recalled the curly haired teen who'd contracted leukemia at age 14, seen it duck into remission, then strike again with a vengeance last summer. The day before Thanksgiving, her brother Bedig had donated his bone marrow. But because of her failing liver, doctors recommended a transplant. On Dec. 11, Cigna denied a liver transplant for the girl, despite the pleadings of physicians at UCLA Medical Center where she was treated. The Sarkisyan family has retained celebrity attorney Mark Geragos for an expected lawsuit. "The last 3 1/2 years were extremely difficult, filled with doctors visits, hospitals and pain," said Jeanette Sabonjian, the girl's aunt. "(Yet) she had elegance, beauty and strength. She had wisdom and life and courage. "She never forgot how to live." Friends said they'd never seen Nataline without a smile. Despite being forced to study at home, she loved high fashion and dance. On her bracelet, she'd worn a pair of ballet shoes. And despite her condition, she always found the time to bake cupcakes or dazzle diners with such dishes as artichokes with peas, infused with garlic and lemon. Last year, she'd planned a Sweet 16 party for 300 guests, including a dipping fountain for chocolate strawberries. "She was so big-hearted," said Raffi Ganoumian, her cousin. "In the condition she was going through, she always put everybody first." But despite her charm, she bore a deep inner sadness, according to her statements written three years ago and published for the funeral. "At this moment my life has changed," she writes. "No wonder I cry day after day, I am lonely without a friend, I feel locked up in a den, life is tragic I don't know why." Outside, friends and family gathered beneath gray skies to proceed to her burial at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, followed by an Armenian meal in remembrance.

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