Joseph Sanchez-Munoz

Type of Donation:      

Age and Location:      Varied, Stanford Medicine Children's Health

Donation Date:           (Please add transplant dates here)

Sponsor:                      Donor Network West

JOSEPH’S STORY

Joseph Sanchez-Munoz is a 19-year-old three-time transplant recipient and is the only child who has ever received three transplants from Stanford Medicine Children's Health. Each transplant happened at a different time in his life. He received a liver, kidney, and most recently a heart transplant. Joseph (Joe Joe) was born with dysplastic kidney disease which was quickly followed by a diagnosis of liver cancer, which caused his liver to fail at just 7 months of age. Along with his liver cancer and kidney disease, geneticists at Stanford Children's diagnosed Joseph with extremely rare Hao-Fountain syndrome. Last winter, Joseph made a trip to the emergency department for what his mother thought might be asthma. He was diagnosed with heart failure – a potential affliction caused by past chemotherapy from liver cancer. Thanks to his organ donors and rare three-time gifts, Joseph loves music, enjoys dancing, remains joyful and continues through life always smiling. His mother hopes to see him graduate college in the near future.