Oscar winning star Hilary Swank and Reacher star Alan Ritchson’s faith based movie “Ordinary Angels” recounts the true story of how the residents of a small community outside of Louisville, Kentucky, rally to save the life of a young girl. The story is based on real incidents from Kentucky.
The Ordinary Angels true story confirms that both Michelle and her older sister Ashley were born with the somewhat rare liver disease biliary atresia, a condition in which the bile ducts inside and outside the liver are blocked, leading to liver deficiencies. They both were recipients of liver transplants, and years later, kidney transplants. Ashley had undergone her liver transplant in Nebraska in 1991 at age 3 when her mother was still alive. Her transplant was a success.
The events unfolded in Louisville, Kentucky in January 1994. The record breaking snow storm that shut down the city for almost a week happened during the overnight hours of January 16-17, 1994.
By the time the family was notified in mid-January 1994 that an organ was available, three-year-old Michelle had been waiting for a liver transplant for approximately two years and was growing increasingly ill. She weighed a mere 22 pounds, the average weight of a child who is one, not three.
The real Sharon Stevens told WTVQ that, like in the movie, she learned about the family's story through a newspaper article. "I saw a news article, and I'm not one to read the newspaper every day, it just happened to be there," Stevens recalled. "I read it. A couple weeks later, the children that needed the help, their mother died, before the second little girl got her transplant, and it broke my heart."
Sharon Stevens said that after reading the newspaper article, she called Chuck Lee, a minister at Southeast Christian Church, where she attended. She told him she wanted to find a way to help the Schmitt Family. It was then that she learned that the girls' mother, Theresa Schmitt, had died the day prior. Stevens had recently completed training to become a commissioned volunteer care minister and learned that her church had been helping the family.
Similar to the movie, Sharon Stevens, played by Hilary Swank, first met Michelle Schmitt at her mother Theresa's funeral. "She was living with her grandmother who was at wit's end due to being older and raising a sick baby. Finances had dwindled, no insurance, and no one was there to help them.”
Stevens raised "tens of thousands of dollars" to help the family cover their expanding medical expenses. "I spent almost three years prior to her transplant raising money for medication, hospital runs to Omaha, and housing for the family," Sharon wrote in a Facebook post. "Her needs consumed my heart and she was a blessing to me.”
While Sharon Stevens' role in helping the family was crucial, she was by no means the only person who helped to raise money. Other friends and community members helped as well, organizing raffles and charity auctions, as well as seeking donations.