Family raises money for father who received a liver transplant after eating poisonous mushrooms.

A family of six young children whose farmworker parents fell ill after consuming poisonous mushrooms—requiring a liver transplant for father Carlos Diaz Peara, 38—is now raising money for their rising medical costs.

Peara and his wife Laura Marcelino, 35, ate the mushrooms after Peara harvested them on a hike in Toro Park on Nov. 30. At least 13 people total in Monterey County were sickened by poisonous fungi, likely death cap mushrooms, during the same week of Thanksgiving.

"My father and mother have spent their lives working as field laborers, providing for our family of six children through seasonal employment," Flor Diaz, their oldest daughter, 18, wrote in a GoFundMe profile. "Their work has always been physically demanding and they have faced many challenges, but nothing could have prepared us for this."

Both parents were rushed to Natividad Medical Center after eating the mushrooms. Marcelino recovered, but Peara's condition worsened. He was transferred to Stanford Hospital where he underwent an emergency liver transplant.

Peara was released from the hospital Monday, Dec. 29 and has a long recovery ahead of him. Neither parent is able to work for now, creating uncertainty for a family with six children aged 3-18.

"With no income and mounting expenses, our family is facing an overwhelming financial burden. We are doing everything we can to support each other, but we cannot do this alone," Diaz said in the profile.