NYC Dominicans Rally To Pay For Boy's Heart Transplant

INWOOD, NY — Like lots of 13-year-old boys, Andy Manuel Herrera Reyes dreams of being a baseball player when he grows up. He idolizes David Ortiz, the onetime Boston Red Sox slugger. But a dangerous heart defect is threatening to take Andy's life before the has the chance to become the next "Big Papi."

Born in the Dominican Republic with congenital heart disease, Andy has already survived four surgeries, including one at Columbia University Medical Center in 2011. He's now waiting for a heart transplant, which his family says is necessary to save his life.

But that transplant is $1.3 million and a plane ride away. Andy is currently in Health City Hospital in the Cayman Islands. He needs to get to Gainesville, Florida, where doctors at the University of Florida Congenital Heart Center have agreed to perform a transplant. But Andy's working-class family can't afford to pay for the complex surgery or the travel.

"He beat death, and the boy is a fighter, but we're running out of time," Laurie Braun, treasurer of the New Jersey nonprofit Gift of Life NJ, which funds congenital heart disease treatments, said at a news conference Wednesday.

Upper Manhattan's Dominican-American community is rallying to help Andy beat the clock. Gift of Life NJ and Inwood's Sea Walk Restaurant hosted a telethon to raise money for his surgery on Wednesday. New Yorkers can also donate through Gift of Life NJ's website.

Andy's supporters hope to raise enough money to get him to Florida by the end of the week, Braun said, as he might not last much longer than that. He's spent the 103 days since his last surgery in September attached to a bypass machine, which helps the heart function after an operation. Most patients only last two weeks on the machine.

The fundraiser has collected about $100,000 so far, Braun said, including a $5,000 pledge from City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and state Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa.

"If he would be a wealthy kid, he would be in Florida, he would be in another hospital here, he would be waiting to get a new heart," said Rodriguez, a Democrat and native of the Dominican Republic.

Andy's case has attracted attention from Ortiz himself and even the president of the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez said.

Andy had his first surgery just after he was born, Braun said. He came to the U.S. for the first time in 2007, when he had his first heart valve replacement at North Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, N.J. Another surgery at Columbia followed in 2011, and then a second valve replacement this year.

Braun hosted Andy and his parents when they came for the surgery and became close to the family, even though she speaks no Spanish and they speak no English, she said.

The family has sold everything they own to help pay for Andy's treatment, Braun said. Gift of Life NJ has helped them pay for food, travel and other expenses over the years, she said.

Andy's mother, Karen Reyes, said it's an "injustice" that her son might die because the family is short of money. She addressed reporters in Spanish on a FaceTime video call on Wednesday, with De La Rosa translating.

"She is trying to draw strength but no longer has strength," De La Rosa said.

Andy has remained in good spirits while waiting for his transplant, making jokes and playing games on his tablet computer, said Gisela Bolivar, who met Andy in August while working as an interpreter at Health City Hospital.

"He made friends everywhere at the hospital," Bolivar said. "Everyone fell in love with him."

Andy's family and supporters are hopeful that he can pull through with support from New Yorkers.

Reyes is "asking New Yorkers to please join her family to please help Andy and not let money be the reason why she loses her son," De La Rosa said.

Visit Gift of Life's website to help pay for Andy's transplant.

(Lead image: Andy Manuel Herrera Reyes, now 13, is waiting for a life-saving heart transplant. Photo courtesy of Gift of Life)