3-Year-Old Florida Boy Receives Rare, 5-Organ Transplant (Video)

Three-year-old Adonis Ortiz was born with a severe birth defect that left him with his intestines formed on the outside of his body. In order to survive, this meant a never before attempt at a five-organ transplant.

"Everything they would keep telling me is that he would have a 50/50 chance," said his mother, Aracelis Ortiz, via USA Today. 

It wasn't until October that the family received a call regarding an opportunity for a transplant match. Soon after, the boy was rushed to Miami within hours of notice for a surgical procedure that the parents were uncertain of which their son might survive, involving a transplant of the liver, pancreas, stomach and small and large intestine.

The replacement of an organ may seem rather simple. An organ is given to a patient who is in need of a new one. It is that simple, in layman's terms. However, the process involved for finding a match is much more complicated.

First off, not everyone is a good candidate for an organ transplant. For instance, serious infections, heart disease, drug or alcohol problems as well as other serious health problems may prevent donor recipients from receiving the organ they need.

Finding the right match can also be difficult. For this, blood type, body size, severity of the patient's medical condition, distance between the donor's hospital and the patient's hospital, the patient's waiting time and the availability of the potential recipient all play an important factor in determining the right organ(s) for the right recipient.

Organ transplants began in the 1950s and have become a routine procedure in the medical community. However what's particularly concerning is that today, there is often a higher need for organs than there are organ donors. This can be difficult to help those waiting for a heart, kidney or lung transplant in order to live--the most common transplants today.

Fortunately, for Adonis, though he is still in recovery at the Jackson Memorial Hospital, his miraculous surgical procedure came out successful and his parent are eagerly awaiting his arrival home.

Want to see this miracle baby? Check out this video, courtesy of Youtube.