Montreal teen receives kidney from late uncle in groundbreaking transplant

There is a SuperMario in Montreal too, and he has a new life thanks to a brand new kidney.

Meet 14-year-old Mario Futia from LaSalle who was born with kidney failure and has been on dialysis three times a week for hours at a time.

For years, he’s been waiting for a transplant after an unsuccessful first attempt at just two years old.

But in December, his life changed.

The sudden death of his uncle Franco Rainone offered him the opportunity to undergo a transplant that had never been done before.

“It’s a new thing that I’ve never experienced before because it was always the same every day,” said Mario. “Going to the hospital, getting out, going to school the next day, but only three times a week.”

“I couldn’t have a lot of socialization because I had a lot of dialysis.”

Since birth, Mario has been a patient at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

That first transplant at two years old, it made him develop antibodies against all kidney donors in Canada.

But once medical staff found out about this potential donor match from his uncle that Mario’s body was less likely to reject –- they developed a new kidney desensitization protocol for him, in collaboration with numerous experts from the United States and the McGill University Health Centre.

“For me, my family is a miracle,” said Mario’s father, Giuseppe Futia. “Thank you for my brother-in-law, thank you for the son. It’s a very miracle for my family.”

The transplant worked.

Mario will now simply have to go in for regular checkups, no more dialysis.

A chance at living a normal life.

“It’s very important to sign the medical card for donation,” said Giuseppe. “Because that can save many other lives.”

“I’m looking forward to the summer because it’s going to be the first summer that I don’t have to go to dialysis only for checkups,” said Mario. “But like going to swimming pools, like eating ice cream in the summer when it’s hot.”

“Because back then I couldn’t do it.”