MANHASSET, NY (PIX 11) — A Long Island man, who suffered from a rare form of kidney disease, says he wouldn’t be here today without his daughter donating one of her kidneys to save his life.
Stephanie Trotti is being hailed a hero after giving her father, Matthew Carlson, the gift of life.
“That’s just like a miracle, and it makes me feel so great that I can give back to my father,” Trotti said.
Carlson was born with polycystic kidney disease, an illness that he said was painful and terminal.
He spent the last five months on dialysis before undergoing surgery on January 8th.
“Days with dialysis were horrible,” said Carlson. “I felt drained, nauseous, which I haven’t felt in 16 days, which is incredible.”
The Mineola father and grandfather saw his mother succumb to the same illness back in 2015.
He states shortly after she died, he noticed he started feeling the symptoms of the inherited disorder. According to surgeons at North Shore University Hospital, the disease causes kidneys to deteriorate and form a ball of cysts.
“My kidney, three and a half pounds, is the size of a football so I had two footballs that were inside me,” Carlson said. “So your kidneys are in the back here, and mine came into the front.”
“Stephanie recognized that her dad was sick,” said transplant surgeon Dr. Elliot Grodstein. “She recognized that he was dying and she contacted our transplant center and said I want to help him and I want to save his life.”
In a heartwarming reunion, Trotti and Carlson returned to the hospital to thank the medical staff who operated on them two weeks after the surgery. Now kidney disease-free, Carlson and Trotti are hoping their story of resilience and sacrifice will encourage others to donate to patients in need.
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