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This past Christmas, two children with kidney disease got gifts that even Santa couldn’t have pulled off. Amanda Edme hadn’t been looking forward to Christmas, even if it meant she’d get the pink Hannah Montana lunch box that was on her wish list. “It’s not going to be a good Christmas because I’ll have to get my shot that day,” she’d told her mother, referring to the bi-monthly injection she was scheduled to receive to boost her red blood cell count.
As it turned out, she didn’t need the shot. The shy 7-year-old from Brockton, Mass., had been put on the deceased donor waiting list while receiving 12 hours of dialysis each night. “The call came at 1 a.m.,” says her mother, Antoinette. “The phone rang and rang and finally I answered and heard, ëAmanda has a kidney.’ I was so shocked I couldn’t do anything. But Amanda was jumping up and down and dancing, she was so excited.”
Amanda had planned to wake up Christmas morning, unwrap presents and spend the rest of the day playing with them. Instead, she and her parents jumped in the car and headed to Children’s Hospital Boston, hardly able to contain themselves while they waited for the operation to get underway.
As Amanda was operated on, Cameron Passarelli, a 10-year-old spitfire from upstate New York, was on his way to Boston. His mom had also received an early morning call letting them know that that the same deceased donorwas also a good match for Cameron, and that they should drop what they were doing and drive to Children’s.
“That day epitomizes teamwork,” says William Harmon, MD, director of Children’s Division of Nephrology. “From the donor hospital to the organ recovery team, flight crew and other transport teams, to surgeons and fellows, transplant coordinators, nursing and OR staff, so many people came together on a day when the hospital is traditionally empty to make this happen.”
Before leaving the house, Cameron was able to open the present he’d been hoping for: a new three-piece suit to add to his collection. A dapper fourth grader, Cameron loves to dress up in suave ensembles for everyday occasions, like going to school or for a hospital visit. He even occasionally tops them off with a wide-brimmed hat.
Cameron is no stranger to hospitals; he’s had dozens of surgeries, including some on his heart and back. “I used to go to a hospital in Albany, but they said they couldn’t do kidney transplants on little people so they sent me to Children’s,” he says.
Cameron’s operation lasted into the night, and, like Amanda’s, it was a success, although he’s had to come back to Children’s for an inpatient stay due to a bout of pneumonia. Despite the slight setback, he was upbeat and full of energy during his recent stay, and was a regular in the playroom, where he colored helicopters, made pictures of dragons and decorated a vase as a present for his family. Dressed in one of his signature, suave suits, he happily told staff everything they’d ever want to know about professional wrestling and his favorite sports team, the Yankees. (He can also tell you which Children’s employees are closet Yankee fans.)
Now, Cameron and Amanda come into Children’s twice a week for tests, when they see one another and their moms catch up. Soon, they’ll move to a monthly schedule to monitor their health and medication regimens. Cameron is looking forward to returning to school when his mandatory three-month wait is over. And Amanda is returning to her old self, gaining weight, bursting with energy and eating all sorts of things that had been off limits before her transplant, like bananas and popcorn. “She had been too tired to do her homework before,” Antoinette says. “Now she has a different life, a better life, a normal life. She is so happy.”
April is Donate Life Month, when people across the country celebrate the generosity of those who have saved lives by becoming organ, tissue, marrow and blood donors, and to encourage more people to follow their example.
Help spread the word: By signing up to be donors, we each have the potential to save eight people’s lives with our organs. Bones and tissue can go up to 15 more people. Find out how you can become a donor at unos.org.
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