When five-month-old Camilla Careri needed a life-saving liver transplant, her father Joseph didn’t hesitate. After learning he was a match, he made the decision to donate a portion of his liver, giving his daughter a second chance at life through UHN’s Ajmera Transplant Centre at Toronto General Hospital.
The long journey ahead
Just a few years ago, Joseph and Bianca Careri were facing every parent’s worst nightmare. Their newborn daughter wasn’t gaining weight, her stomach was swollen, and her skin was tinged yellow with jaundice.
After two weeks at their local hospital and five days of continuous testing, the team confirmed that Camilla had biliary atresia: a rare, life-threatening liver disease in infants where the bile ducts inside and outside the liver are scarred and blocked.
When the diagnosis came, everything seemed to stop. “You’re hearing so much information, but you don’t fully process it,” Bianca recalls. “All you can think is: ‘how do we fix this?’”
It was clear that Camilla’s initial procedures were not working. At four months old, her stomach began to swell again, and her test results were showing alarmingly high numbers. Their last resort was a liver transplant, and Camilla, Joseph, and Bianca’s transplant journey at UHN and SickKids Hospital began.
A second chance through living organ donation
“Living donor transplantation is one of the most extraordinary acts of generosity we see in medicine,” says Dr. Nazia Selzner, Lead for the Centre for Living Organ Donation and Medical Director for Live Donor Liver Transplantation at UHN. Donors like Joseph make that possible, helping patients receive the care they need when they need it most.”
Two days after Father’s Day, June 2023, after three full days of testing, Joseph got the call that he was a match for his daughter, Camilla.
In the weeks following, Joseph was working with UHN doctors such as Dr. Nazia Selzner, Dr. Anand Ghanekar, Dr. Blayne Seyed and Dr. Mark Cattral, preparing physically, mentally, and emotionally for the surgery that would change everything for their family.
At just five months old, Camilla received a portion of her father’s liver in a life-saving transplant.
On the day of transplant, the reality of everything the Careri family had been preparing for finally set in. With Joseph located at Toronto General Hospital’s Ajmera Transplant Centre and Camilla located across the street at SickKids Hospital, Bianca moved constantly between the two bedsides, ensuring neither faced the journey alone.
After a few weeks of post-operative recovery and care, Joseph, Bianca, and Camilla were finally able to leave the hospital and begin to build a brighter future together as a family. Before returning home to Brampton, the Careri’s spent time in Toronto, making new memories exploring Centre Island, walking down Queen Street, and Medieval Times.
At UHN, we help give patients more moments that matter. This holiday season, a gift from you, no matter how small, will help save lives and bring more patients home to their loved ones.
Today, Camilla is a fun, inquisitive, curious, fearless three-year-old living her life to the fullest.
Our holiday gift will go twice as far to transform lives
While Camilla was fortunate to receive a living donor transplant, thousands of families continue to wait for life-saving organs. Your holiday gift to UHN will give hope to patients like Camilla and Joseph – and will go far beyond our walls to help create a healthier world for everyone. Please give a matched gift today to help make more tomorrows possible.
