Nebraska Medicine raises flag with help of kidney transplant recipient

The gift of life. That’s what one Grand Island family was gifted by a family friend who saved the life of their daughter through organ donation.To mark this year’s national Donate Life Month, Nebraska Medicine honored organ and tissue donors with a special guest in attendance on Wednesday.Leila Soria, now 3 years old, was given a battle for her life before she was even born. Scans showed Leila had no amniotic fluid and would be born with kidney failure. It’s a battle her parents, Jason and Jenn Soria, were ready to fight.”We always said, you know, as long as Leila is going to fight, we’re going to fight. I believe strongly that even in utero that she was a life and deserved a chance to live,” Jenn Soria said.From that point on, the Soria family met with nephrologists and specialists like Dr. Veronica Taylor to get a plan in place for a condition that until recently was considered fatal for neonates.”We have new technologies now for dialysis, and we can perform dialysis on children who are very small in size, whereas before, that was nearly impossible,” Dr. Taylor said.Dialysis, however, is not a cure for kidney failure, so Leila would eventually need a transplant. That’s when a friend of Jenn’s from college got involved.”I still remember the day she was like Jenn, I think I’m a good match,” Jenn Soria said. “There were lots of tears, and you just can’t even express how you feel about somebody that’s giving your child a chance at life.”She, indeed, was a match. The Nebraska Medicine team went to work, and Leila received a successful kidney transplant from a friend now turned family.”We love that we still get to see her, and we joke about her coming to visit her kidney,” Jenn Soria said.The Soria family is now back at Nebraska Medicine on Wednesday, where their miracle gift happened.”We’re so blessed with an amazing team that helped us through this journey, and we’re so thankful for the med center,” Jason Soria said.To honor all the organ and tissue donors, like the Soria’s family friend, who help save lives everyday Nebraska Medicine with the help Leila and her family raised a Donate Life flag in front of the hospital on Wednesday. “To be here today and just honoring all of those who have donated organs and to have Leila here with us thriving, honestly, it’s like a dream come true,” Jenn Soria said.With numerous hospital staff in attendance, the Donate Life flag now flies high over Nebraska Medicine and other families like the Soria’s.”I think where science left off and didn’t have answers, God stepped in and gave this little girl a chance, and if you can’t tell, she’s a bit of a fighter,” Jenn Soria said.Nebraska Medicine says many of their patients are still looking for donors. If you are interested in becoming a donor, you can reach out to Nebraska Medicine for more information.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |

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