Kidney Transplant Survivor’s Wish Comes True

Glendora Patch | Hazel Lodeveco- To'o


The Make a Wish Foundation grants 5-year-old Vinnie Dodd a train ride of his dreams.

When Vinnie Dodd was born eight weeks premature doctors told his mother Mary he had a 1 percent chance of survival.

Vinnie was born with posterior urethral valve, a condition where an obstruction occurs in the posterior male urethra as a result of abnormal development in the womb.

Nurses told Mary to hold her son as much as she can – it just may be the last time.

But nearly six years later, Vinnie is a rambunctious, energetic boy moving non-stop around his Azusa home.

Vinnie made headlines when at just two years old, he became the youngest kidney transplant recipient at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Since then, Vinnie’s progress continues to amaze doctors. When he was born, doctors were baffled at why the baby was still alive. Today, doctors are confident Vinnie has much more life ahead of him.

“As long as he stays healthy, he should live a normal life,” said Vinnie’s father Ben.

Volunteers with the Make a Wish Foundation arrived at Vinnie’s home Tuesday bearing the little train enthusiast’s favorite toys – little model cars and trains – as well as a trip to Nevada to ride the Virginia and Truckee Railroad and a steam engine train from Carson City to Virginia City.

Glendora businesses Spaghetti Eddie's and the Cake Mamas also provided dinner and dessert during the wish reveal.

Read more: http://glendora.patch.com/articles/young-kidney-transplant-survivor-s-wish-comes-true

{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}