9-month-old girl receives liver transplant from mother after massive online response

TORONTO – Nine-month-old Delfina Budziak has successfully undergone a partial liver transplant from her mother, after a massive international response to save the infant girl’s life.

Since appealing to the public online for a liver transplant on May 27, the Budziak family said in a release Friday that they were “overwhelmed by the response from around the world,” including from the U.S., Sweden, Canada and many Canadian Armed Forces members.

Delfina, from Vaughan, Ont., was diagnosed at two months old with biliary atresia. The disease causes an accumulation of bile in the liver, leading to damage and a loss of liver function. She has been at the Hospital for Sick Children since April 26 due to a bout of cholangitis, an infection of the common bile duct. The little girl has been too sick to leave the hospital without a new liver.

WATCH: Effort to find a new liver for GTA eight-month-old draws hundreds of responses

“Delfina is doing so much better than the doctors had thought she was going to do, the transplant went so much better than what they anticipated,” said Peter Budziak, Delfina’s father.

“Right now she’s in stable condition, she’s getting a little uncomfortable with things, but she’s going through the recovery and the day after is always the worst. But she’s fighting through it. When she hears my voice she gets a little agitated, she wants to be held, but since we can’t pick her up it’s tough on her and us not being able to hold her.”

More than 1,000 members of the public inquired about donating a portion of their liver, while many others signed up to help others in need.

Delfina’s mother, Betsy Budziak, was previously ruled out as a donor but was called back in a few days after their appeal and told she could undergo a surgical procedure on her own liver in hopes of making her a viable candidate.

“We were kind of told we should move on to other people when my wife got denied and we didn’t have anyone else. So we kind of put something out on social media and what felt like almost the next day, or very soon after, Toronto General let us know that there was a procedure they could do to try to fix my wife’s liver so that it could be transplant-able,” Budziak said.

“We were just happy that she was able to be the donor because obviously, being the mother, her liver matches best.”

Since the family didn’t know whether the procedure would work and what the recovery time might be, they continued to ask the public to sign up to help not only Delfina, but other children as well, including her neighbour at the Hospital for Sick Children, five-month-old Jacob Craig-Gregory.

READ MORE: Family of baby needing new liver ‘hopeful’ after massive response

On Thursday, Delfina successfully received a portion of her mother’s liver and the family said both are recovering well in hospital. It was determined that she was an ideal candidate for Delfina, given their biological link and the family said they are “extremely grateful” for the outpouring of love and support from the community and across the country.

“We can’t thank people enough. Over 1,000 strangers stepped up to say they’d be willing to save our daughter,” said Budziak.

“Thank you guys so much for stepping up, it’s incredible what people can do when you just give them the opportunity. We also still want to encourage people to be donors, there’s so many kids like Delfina that need livers, kidneys, these kids are amazing these families are amazing and everybody deserves this chance.”

The Budziak family also extended its thanks to the staff at the Hospital for Sick Children, whom they call “angels,” and encourage people to sign up for the living donor program through the University Health Network.

Members of the public interested in donating to Craig-Gregory are asked to email Liver4Jacob@gmail.com. The donor must also have type O blood in order to be a potential match.

*With files from Veronica Tang