How far would you go to save your sick child?
That was the question Kern and Pasina faced when their son, Malambo, began to look jaundiced at just 2 months old.
He was diagnosed with a potentially fatal condition that, if left untreated, can lead to malnutrition and liver damage. So the family embarked on a 7,000-mile journey from their home in Zambia, in search of lifesaving answers.
A groundbreaking solution
The family first traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa, but the treatment Malambo received there didn’t help. He had cirrhosis and would need a liver transplant to survive.
A transplant in Africa can cost up to $1 million—money the family didn’t have. But they were willing to move mountains for Malambo.
As a U.S. citizen originally from Boston, Malambo’s father, Kern, knew exactly where they needed to go next: home, where his family still lived. So they packed up all their belongings and made the trip across the world to try and save their little boy.
At Boston Children’s, doctors quickly arranged for a split-liver transplant that allowed one donor’s liver to be shared between 11-month-old Malambo and an 18-year-old boy from Maine—saving two lives. It’s a practice that benefits small children who only need a piece of a liver to match their body size, so they don’t have to wait too long for transplants.
Today, Malambo is the healthy and bubbly kid he was meant to be.
At the end of the day, research needs funding. And this research helps children not only across the country, but across the world.
Pasina, Malambo’s mom
