11-Year-Old Pa. Boy Recovering After 5-Organ Transplant

MIAMI, Fla. (KDKA) -- An 11-year-old Eastern Pennsylvania boy is recovering after a five-organ transplant in Miami, Florida.

According to Lancaster Online, Tony Forte of Manheim Township is thriving after his procedure on Aug. 24, and is adding new foods to his restricted diet. He's apparently "very excited about his first taste of crab legs."

Forte has Complete Intestinal Hirschsprung's Disease, a rare sickness that debilitates his digestive system. He received this diagnosis at just 6-days old. For most of his life, he has received food through an IV tube.

On Aug. 23, Tony was flown to Miami where the organs from a 12-year-old donor had become available. Over a six-hour surgery, he received a new stomach, small and large intestines, liver and pancreas.

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"We're doing great," his mother, Monica Forte, gushed to Lancaster Online. "Most kids that come in for something like this are sick - knocked out for weeks, maybe a month. It takes a while to get their energy back."

But not her son. Doctors say the 11-year-old is doing better than expected.

Forte still has a ways to go. It will be weeks, or months before he can leave the hospital and begin physical therapy. At the end of the process, he will have a full functional digestive system and a totally new life ahead of him.