The little dark-haired boy running through the airport terminal with a wide grin and red Croc shoes was not supposed to live this long.
Roughhousing, or even walking through Denver’s airport with his cousins and brothers – as he did when he arrived Tuesday – would have made 9-year-old Vincent Sanchez sick.
“It’s phenomenal,” Vincent’s father said as he watched his son. “He’s such a different kid now.”
Vincent’s life and the lives of his family changed almost overnight when he had his liver and a kidney replaced in January.
Doctors at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., monitored his condition there for 100 days and allowed him to fly home Tuesday.
The boy is likely the youngest person in the world to receive the dual transplant and the fifth person to undergo the surgery, his doctors say.
Vincent was born with methylmalonic acidemia, a metabolic disease that causes acids to churn through his body, making it hard to do everyday activities.
The transplant does not cure Vincent of his disease but is supposed to make it more manageable.
Vincent’s progress is a relief to Lori and Aaron Sanchez, who thought their son would die just months ago.
In some cases, the disease can be managed with proper diet, but in Vincent’s case he just wasn’t getting better.
His illness took the fun from his childhood, landing him in the hospital for five Christmases.
Vincent’s parents said they knew from the time he was born that he would have to undergo a kidney transplant. But a kidney transplant on its own would have been useless because of the way the disease affects the body, so he also had to have his liver replaced to have any chance at survival.
“In July, we were preparing to lose him,” Vincent’s mother said. “There was a doctor who gave us hope. We can look into his future now and be excited.”
On the advice of a doctor at Children’s Hospital in Denver, his parents decided to take him to Packard for the dual kidney-liver transplant, an extremely rare procedure.
While the Sanchez family struggled with their son’s disease, they tried to continue a normal life for themselves and their two other sons.
Aaron Sanchez, 36, is a Denver police lieutenant. His wife is a children’s advocate.
Even though Vincent’s surgery was successful, he will still struggle with the task of managing new organs and his disease for the rest of his life.
But Vincent has already asked his mother if he can be a regular kid and attend public school. He was being home-schooled.
He’s also beginning to dote on his younger brothers, as a big brother should, his mother said.
While dealing with her son’s illness, 33-year-old Lori Sanchez lobbied the Colorado legislature to make it mandatory for hospitals to screen all newborns for 30 metabolic disorders.
The law passed earlier this year.
She said Vincent’s plight should give other parents of sick children hope.
“Don’t give up on them,” she said. “Explore until you cannot explore anymore. Do not give up.”
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
