Mohegan Lake Toddler Receives Life-Saving Kidney Transplant
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Tears and smiles filled the lobby of Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla last Friday morning while 21-month-old Hadley Frusciante basked in the attention, enjoying the sounds of an accompanying guitarist.
Family members of the Mohegan Lake toddler and hospital personnel gathered to celebrate Frusciante’s recent rare and successful kidney transplant.
“She’s gotten a second chance at life,” Frusciante’s mother Lindsay said. “There were days I didn’t think we would see the end of the road. I never lost hope.”
Hadley was born with a congenital disorder that prevented her kidneys from developing properly. Her kidneys eventually failed and were removed in December 2023 when doctors thought they could be cancerous.
She endured months of dialysis treatments at Maria Fareri while the family awaited a donor match. However, due to her size, finding a deceased donor that matched was challenging.
Kayla Mercado, Hadley’s aunt, helped speed up the process by donating a kidney of her own to the National Kidney Registry, which Maria Fareri is an active member of.
“I’m grateful I was able to do this for my niece. We had a lot of faith, but it was taking a little too long,” Mercado said. “I encourage other people to do it.”
On Aug. 9, Hadley, weighing in at 22 pounds, was the recipient of a kidney from an anonymous living donor. She went home on Sept. 3.
“She’s been doing well the last month,” said Sonia Solomon, a pediatric nephrologist.
Dr. Greg Veillette, the surgeon that performed Hadley’s transplant, said in 2024, of the 1,500 kidney transplants that have taken place in the United States, only seven were done on children under the age of five.
“We rarely do transplants in children less than one,” Veillette said. “This is just a wonderful day and such a wonderful outcome for Hadley.”
Veillette noted 90,000 people were currently on a waiting list for a kidney – 250 of which are children under the age of five.
“It’s a true miracle that we were able to do this transplant,” he said.
Lindsay Frusciante said she was grateful to her sister, the doctors and the staff at Maria Fareri for saving her daughter’s life.
“She made a selfless decision. She gave a piece of herself to help her niece,” Lindsay said of her sister. “I can’t thank her enough for what she has done.”
“They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it took a village to save my child,” she added.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/