‘I want to hug him and never let go’: Family meets donor who saved son’s life
A toddler in Bolivia was suffering from a disease his only two brothers had already died of. This week, Nicholas Torrico and his family met the man who saved his life almost two years ago, but not without encountering obstacles on their journey to Miami.
Nicholas’ mother, Gabriela Torrico, had said that she was desperately waiting for the day when she’d meet the man who donated bone marrow to her son. Nicholas and both his parents would be flown into Miami from Bolivia. But their travel date ended up coinciding with country-wide boycotts and protests that resulted in President Evo Morales’ resignation.
Gabriela said that it took them almost three hours to get to the airport, because they had to go through various checkpoints set up by civilian protesters who were trying to stop anyone from leaving the country. They thought she was escaping from the chaos that the country was experiencing. “How are you going to leave to party in the U.S. when we’re fighting for democracy in our country?” she said they asked her.
Eventually they made it to the airport. They were able to convince the people stationed at various checkpoints that they had to be in the U.S. because of Nicholas’ health issues. They arrived in Miami this week to attend an event organized by Gift of Life Marrow Registry where Nicholas and his family were able to meet the donor, Micah Kadden.
“I want to hug him and never let him go,” Gabriela said before meeting Kadden. “I’m so excited to finally meet him, I don’t think anyone has any idea.”
Kadden, 34, is a pediatrician at a Washington hospital. He joined the Gift of Life Marrow Registry at 25 while studying medicine at a university in Tel Aviv.
Kadden said that there was a drive in his community for prospective donors to join the registry. He felt that being a donor was easy enough and certainly worthwhile.
“I knew the odds were very small that I’d be anyone’s match, but that’s why it’s so important that a lot of people join the registry, because those small chances really add up,” Kadden said.
He was contacted by the registry almost six years later to let him know that he was someone’s match. He was asked to come in for further testing and confirmation that he was a match.
Nicholas’ parents, Gabriela Torrico and Freddy Baluarte, had already lost two sons to a disease that was never diagnosed. Both died when they were about a year and a half old.
Five years after the death of their last child, the couple decided they would try again. “We thought God would finally give us a healthy child,” Gabriela said.
But at three months old, Nicholas was experiencing the same symptoms his brothers had. Some of Gabriela’s friends suggested she go to Argentina, where her son’s condition might be diagnosed.
In Argentina, Nicholas was diagnosed with Chronic Granulomatous Disease. The only cure was a bone marrow transplant. Through Gift of Life they were able to find a match for Nicholas within a year.
After the transplant Nicholas suffered from complications. “What was supposed to be a 40-day stay in the hospital [after the procedure] turned into six months,” his mother said.
Now they have to go back to Buenos Aires every two months in order for Nicholas, who’s now 4, to receive his routine checkups.
Since 1991 Gift of Life has added over 352,000 people to its registry, people who have volunteered to donate blood stem cells or bone marrow to save a life. Gift of Life has facilitated almost 17,000 matches for individuals who suffer from blood-related diseases.
When Torrico and Kadden finally met with an embrace at the fundraising event Thursday in Miami, the room filled with emotion. Many were visibly crying.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 6:06 PM.
