MANHASSET, NY – Forget chocolate and flowers as a Valentine’s Day gift —meet three young men who showed their love for their mothers by donating one of their kidneys, enabling them to beat kidney disease and live a longer, healthier life.      

At a news conference held today at the North Shore University Hospital Transplant Center in Manhasset, the generous sons and their grateful moms joined together to help spread the word that people can live perfectly well with one healthy kidney. Even more important, said Ernesto Molmenti, MD, director of the transplant Center, “We want people to understand that parents must lose their fears about asking their children for an organ donation. Once adult children have all the information, they understand that what they are actually doing is extending the quality of life of their parent.” Dr. Molmenti explained that in the case of parent/child donation, there is a 50 percent chance of finding a compatible match.
 
 Participating in the day’s event were Anthony Ciambone of Elmont, NY, and his mother Betty, of North Merrick; Dennis Geiger of Manhattan and his mother, Kathleen, of Northport, NY; and Dominick Dean, of Jamaica, Queens, and his mother, Nicole, also a Queens resident.

 Each of the women explained the health issue that precipitated the need for a kidney donation. Whether the cause was an infection, auto-immune disease, or hypertension, the women had one thing in common -- if not for the donation of a healthy kidney, they were all certain to face renal failure. As Mr. Ciambone said, “We were told that people who are placed on a transplant list have to wait more than five years. My mom didn’t have that kind of time. This is what had to be done.”

As the sons and mothers embraced at the news conference, Mr. Dean summed up the feelings of the day, “No matter how old we get, we always run to our moms with our problems. It feels great to know that, for once, I was able to be there for her.”

 For more information about organ donation, or to enroll in the New York State Donate Life Registry, go to: www.donatelifeny.org

Contact: Michelle Pinto
(516) 465-2649/2600 
mpinto@nshs.edu