A piece of Marine veteran John Rubino is keeping 8-month-old Ariany alive. 

It was the life-saving transplant her family at Montefiore were waiting for, now they get to make more memories together. 

“Being able to provide that relief to her family and know that she is going to be a healthy little girl and live a long healthy life – it’s quite an amazing feeling,” said Rubino. 

Ariany was suffering for months from a potentially deadly and very rare disease, Biliary Atresia. It is a blockage in the tubes (ducts) that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder. Ariany needed an implant right away, so Dr. Nadia Orchinsky got her on the national donor waitlist immediately, but there was no match. 

This is Rubino’s second time giving someone a second chance. The first was a kidney given to a woman named Jessica in Connecticut. 

Rubino says this is his opportunity to be a part of something much bigger than himself. He is currently on the Bone Marrow Registry and is doing advocacy work with Yale-New Haven and is a living donor ambassador.