A Tampa toddler survived a five-organ transplant in October, making him the youngest patient ever to receive a multi-organ transplant without a colostomy. Adonis Ortiz, 3, was born with "short gut syndrome," meaning his intestines were outside his abdominal wall and he could not absorb nutrients, MyFox NY reports. He had his first surgery at just four hours old, and has spent each Christmas of his short life in the hospital. He was also unable to eat, and had to be fed intravenously. Doctors decided to do the rare multi-organ surgery after his liver started to fail; they gave him a new liver, pancreas, stomach, and small and large intestines, all from the same donor. (The toddler's other organs had been damaged as a result of his condition.)
Adonis will spend this Christmas at Miami's Ronald McDonald House, so doctors can oversee his recovery. "At least he has another Christmas to celebrate," his mom tells the Miami Herald. Before the transplant surgery, "everything that they always kept telling me was that he has a 50/50 chance. Nobody would ever give me any other percentage until now. So, to hear that he has like an 80% to 85% chance, it’s a lot better than 50." Adonis is "really strong," she adds. "After all his surgeries, he comes out with a smile." The doctor who did the procedure says Adonis has a good chance of making a complete recovery, and that he'll "be able to do everything that a regular child does." (More uplifting news stories.)
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