Christmas comes early for 14-year-old Lombard boy in need of a liver

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - When you think about this being a season for giving, most people would think you mean presents.

But as FOX 32’s Jake Hamilton shows us, some people take it a step further and give a piece of themselves.

Meet 14-year-old Anthony Parello of Lombard. With a diagnosis of Biliary Atresia, where inflammation develops within the bile ducts, he was in desperate need of a liver transplant. So, his mom did what many of us do when we need something - she got on Facebook.

Through the power of social media, she re-connected with Kendra Perpich from Minnesota. The two were nothing more than casual acquaintances from decades past, but that was enough for Kendra to get tested, approved and ultimately decide to give Anthony part of her liver.

For her, the decision was easy.

One week after the successful surgery, Anthony is looking good and gearing up to go home to celebrate the holidays like any other 8th grade kid.

Doctors say Perpich's liver should fully regenerate within a few months, and it will take Anthony at least that long to recover from the transplant surgery.