Girl denied transplant gets second chance

• Tweet

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The Philadelphia hospital that initially denied a kidney transplant for a 3-year-old girl is now willing to consider the procedure, the girl's parents said.

Chrissy and Joseph Rivera said they met with medical personnel at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Friday about the possibility of a transplant for their daughter Amelia, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday. The Riveras said they were not told if Amelia would be medically eligible for the transplant.

"As of now, we're taking this as a positive sign," Chrissy Rivera said.

Amelia, who has Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, received national attention when Chrissy wrote a blog post accusing the hospital of denying the kidney transplant because of the girl's mental disability. Chrissy said the girl's chart initially listed mental retardation as a reason not to perform the procedure, though those words were later removed.

"If there's a medical reason" a kidney transplant would be a bad idea, Chrissy said, "of course we're not going to do it."

She said Amelia's case will be further reviewed to determine if she's a good candidate for the procedure.

As of Monday, 37,000 people had signed a petition on change.org, asking the hospital to allow the transplant, the Inquirer reported.