Fayette County woman who needed new liver, kidneys after Arizona hike dies

CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — A sad update to a story that we brought you in July. The family of 26-year-old Rebecca Rowan notified 11 News that she unfortunately passed away.

According to family members, Rowan and her brother live in Connellsville and were vacationing in the southwest. They went on a day hike, but things quickly turned bad. They ran out of water, became severely dehydrated and got confused.

Rowan fell down a ravine. The pair were out in the desert until first responders could find them hours later.

Her family told Channel 11 that Rowan had let her health insurance lapse and now needs $300,000 just to get on the transplant list.

“We have seen how Pittsburgh and the area has pulled together for many people and we are just hoping that they can help us help her,” family members said.

After our report aired, her family said her liver appeared to be regenerating.

The following is a statement that the Rowan family sent to 11 News.

“I wanted to let you know that our sweet Rebecca has lost her battle and has gone home to Jesus, she has been at UPMC for the past couple of weeks and she was starting to rebuild, she beat her infections, and her kidney and liver failure. But the surgery to close her abdomen was more then she could handle. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and donations to her care, we could have not come this far without all of you. May God bless each and every one of you,” the statement from the Rowan family read.

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