Long Island Mother Launches Search For Kidney Donor To Help Son

RONKONKOMA, NY — Reggie Berrios is a healthy 20-year-old, running his own business after graduating from Sachem North High School. But he is in dire need of a donor kidney due to kidney disease that runs in his family. His mother Eleanor Di Maggio-Lalima has launched a social media campaign to try an identify a suitable donor to save her son from dialysis.

Di Maggio-Lalima cannot donate a kidney to Berrios, since she herself received a kidney transplant a year ago.

"All of you know that kidney disease runs in my family and we lost both my mother and brother to kidney disease," she wrote on Facebook.

"As a mom I am completely devastated that I am not able to help my own child due to having a kidney transplant a year ago."

Di Maggio-Lalima wants to spread the word to anyone who has considered being a donor. The family's insurance company will cover the donor’s testing, surgery and hospital stay. Interested parties can contact Stony Brook Hospital at 631-444-2209.

"We are trying really hard to avoid dialysis since he’s only 20 years old."

A family friend, Colleen Feeney Cecil, is pitching in, sharing her own son's story of organ donation. The donor who gave her son a kidney is willing to share her story with anyone who has questions about the process, she says.

"He’s 20 yrs old and has so much life ahead of him. Donating a kidney is a huge decision and even a bigger gift, and I am also always available to answer questions, and support you," she wrote.

The rest of Reggios family is also ineligible to donate because the kidney condition, FSGS, is hereditary. The will use a family member as a last resort, Di Maggio-Lalima said.

For now, his mother says "he's hanging in there," and this week he was evaluated for the hospital waiting list.

His family remains hopeful that even with a difficult search ahead, Reggios is young and healthy.

"They said he’s a perfect candidate for transplant young and no other medical issues."