Like most seven year old girls, Vittoria enjoyed school and loved her friends and teachers. At home, she played with her little brother and helped take care of him. She enjoyed playing with her cousins, reading and watching movies. She also enjoyed swimming, riding horses, snowmobiles and four-wheelers, and fishing with her dad. However, Vittoria faced some very difficult challenges in her young life.
Vittoria was born with a disease that affects connective tissue, including the tissue around the heart and lungs. In Vittoria’s case, this disease eventually led to the need for a heart transplant that unfortunately, would not come in time. Vittoria passed away just one week before her eighth birthday, leaving behind a family and friends who could not imagine life without her smile and her hugs.
Though it has been difficult for them, they agreed to work with Intermountain Donor Services and Yes Utah to produce a commercial about Vittoria. Every day an average of eighteen people die in the United States
waiting for an organ transplant. Each of them is a beautiful person, who like Vittoria, are loved by many.
Sharing Vittoria’s story is a way for her family to honor her and to help prevent another family from experiencing this same loss.
Please register as an organ, eye and tissue donor. There are many other children, and adults, who need an organ transplant. There is no better gift to leave behind after we are gone than the gift of life to another and those who love them.
