By Michelle Martens | Project Leader
How far would you go to save your sick child? When Pasina and Kern brought their newborn home, he seemed healthy. Months later they would embark on a desperate 7,000-mile journey in a search for lifesaving answers.
Born in his mom’s home country of Zambia, Malambo began to look jaundiced when he was two months old. He was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a potentially fatal condition that, if left untreated, can lead to malnutrition and liver damage.
His family first traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa where Malambo underwent a procedure to bypass the blocked bile ducts in his liver. But it was too late. He already had cirrhosis and the bile still wouldn’t flow. He needed a liver transplant to survive.
A transplant in South Africa can cost up to a million dollars, money the family didn’t have. But they were willing to move mountains for Malambo. As a U.S. citizen originally from Boston, his father, Kern, knew exactly where they needed to go next—Home, where his family still resided and offered them support in every way possible. So, they packed up all their belongings and made a 7,853-mile trip to try and save their little boy.
At Boston Children’s, doctors quickly arranged for a split-liver transplant that allowed one donor’s liver to be shared between 11-month-old Malambo and an 18-year-old boy from Maine—saving two lives! It’s a practice that benefits small children who only need a piece of a liver to match their body size, so they don’t have to wait too long for transplants.
“Mal is 10 now and doing amazing. His numbers are always good, and if you didn’t know his story, you wouldn’t guess that he was a transplant recipient,” says mom, Pasina, who explains why their family is so passionate about fundraising. “Because without Boston Children’s, Mal would not be with us today.”
Malamabo is smart, creative and curious and he makes friends wherever he goes. His family has made Boston their home because they know he will get the ongoing care that he needs to grow and thrive at Boston Children’s.
You can give kids, like Malambo, a second chance at life. Families from every state and nearly 100 countries travel to Boston Children’s for lifesaving answers they can’t find anywhere else. Your contributions will turn discoveries into cures, innovative treatments and healthy futures.
By Michelle Martens | Project Leader
By Michelle Martens | Project Leader
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