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Chris Bautista lived every parent s worst nightmare: His young son, Luke, died after an accident at home just a month after his 15th birthday.
Luke s older brother, C.J., likely saved his life by performing CPR when he found Luke lying on the floor, bleeding, said Bautista, 51, of Neptune. But he d already suffered severe head trauma.
After about four days in the hospital, doctors delivered the dreaded news: Luke the teenage drummer who loved Foo Fighters, the class clown who was always cracking jokes had suffered brain death. And he wasn t coming back.
But the Bautista family, despite being savagely grief-stricken, determined that their son would not die in vain. They donated his heart, both kidneys, and his pancreas and liver, saving five different lives in the weeks after their son s heartbreaking death.
Hillsborough woman raises awareness of organ and tissue donation centraljersey.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from centraljersey.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NJ woman donates kidney so did her mom and sister
Published: June 30, 2021
Hess family members (from left to right) Dalia, Esti, Rabbi Joshua, Naava, Dani and Akiva (Photo courtesy of NJ Sharing Network)
On any given day, thousands of people in New Jersey are waiting for a life-saving transplant, either from an organ donor who s passed away or someone who s still living and feeling very generous.
There s one family who s putting a dent in that waitlist all on their own three members have already donated a kidney, and another member is in the process of becoming the fourth. I would do it again tomorrow if I was able to, Naava Hess, a resident of Linden, told New Jersey 101.5.
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Emma Rothman of Cranford, right, with Gabriella Giolli of Hillsborough, who won an award named for Emma for her passion and dedication to raising awareness of organ and tissue donation. (Sharing Network)
Gabriella Giolli of Hillsborough (Sharing Network)
CRANFORD, NJ The NJ Sharing Network Foundation s Hearts for Emma Partner Fund has awarded a scholarship to Gabriella Giolli of Hillsborough for her passion and dedication to raising awareness of organ and tissue donation.
The award is named for Emma Rothman, a Cranford High School graduate who, when she was 12, said she was fatigued and wound up needing a new heart. Rothman just celebrated the 10th anniversary of her heart transplant. READ MORE: Cranford Woman, 22, Celebrates 10 Years With New Heart
New Jersey s Best Places to Work, 2021 njbiz.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from njbiz.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.