By the end of the month, 16-month-old Panagiotis Galitis will be back in his native Greece, rejoined with a healthy twin brother and ready to live a new life -- with a new liver, stomach, pancreas and small intestine.

The multi-organ transplant -- performed by doctors at Holtz Children's Hospital, part of the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center -- is routinely done on hundreds of patients.

But, weighing in at 7 pounds at the time, Panagiotis is reportedly the smallest newborn to undergo such a complicated transplant. At a news conference on Friday, the animated baby boy with plump, pinchable cheeks laughed and played with doctors and his parents -- showing no sign of having spent most of his short life in a hospital.

``The reality is that when these things work, they really work well,`` said Dr. Andreas Tzakis, director of the University of Miami's Liver and Gastro Intestinal Transplantation Program, and who is also from Greece.

Panagiotis' medical journey began in January 2008 when his mother, Maria Galitis, gave birth to twin boys in Athens, Greece.

Shortly afterward, Panagiotis developed short gut syndrome and liver failure, leaving him unable to eat and dependent on intravenous feedings.

After several failed attempts to repair his intestines at the pediatric hospital of the University of Athens, Panagiotis was flown in December 2008 to the Holtz Children's Center, part of one of the few medical centers in the world to perform such surgery.

Doctors were worried that the frail boy wouldn't even be able to survive the flight to Miami, let alone the complex surgery. With no organ donors as small as Panagiotis the team of doctors at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital had to reduce the size of the organs to fit inside the boy's body.

Panagiotis defied all odds.

At almost 18 pounds and growing fast, the miracle baby is now able to eat and hold his head up on his own.

``I felt in my heart that the child would do well, but I didn't realize it would be such a quick recovery,`` said his father, Isaac Galitis, speaking through a translator as he held his smiling son in his arms.

The return home to Greece will be especially memorable since it marks the first time that Panagiotis will live with his twin brother, Nicholas, who weighs more than 20 pounds and can already walk.

Doctors said that in another year or so, the twins will likely weigh about the same amount and have the same physical capabilities.

Panagiotis is expected to live a normal life, but he will be visiting doctors regularly to monitor his health.

Although elated by his progress, the doctors said it will be bittersweet to part ways with the Galitis family and the ''charming'' Panagiotis.

Said Eddie Island of the University of Miami and Jackson's Pediatric Liver & Gastro Intestinal Transplantation program: "We wanted to give him a chance and he's taken that chance -- and run with it."

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