Expand / Collapse search
☰

3-year-old South Jersey boy receives lifesaving transplant from aunt

Published  April 10, 2019 5:43pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (FOX 29) - A 3-year-old South Jersey boy received a lifesaving liver transplant from his aunt.

READ MORE: South Jersey family waits for precious gift of life donation for 2-year-old

Francesco Cammarata was born with biliary atresia, which is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts. The little fighter was in liver failure and desperately needed a liver transplant.

"There's a blockage in the bile ducts. So, obviously, we need our ducts for bile to flow," his mom, Maddalena Cammarata, told FOX 29 back in December. "It's crushing. We did not expect this at all for our son to be sick."

The family rallied around Francesco and raised awareness for organ donations.

Thankfully, his aunt Mimma-Marie, a South Jersey high school teacher, was a match. On Tuesday, the surgery took place at CHOP. Francesco was in surgery for more than 10 hours.

The Francesco's Fierce Fight's Facebook page thanked everyone for their prayers. The family wants to thank the amazing doctors at CHOP and Penn for making the organ donation happen seamlessly.