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Orchard Park family asks for prayers for their son

Posted at 4:01 PM, Dec 17, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-17 18:28:17-05

When Valerie Rufat of Orchard Park was pregnant, she and her husband Izzy found out their son Pierce had minimal kidney function, forcing them to put him on hemodialysis after he was born.

"We got him on dialysis relatively early, just kind of a life-saving urgent matter," said Izzy Rufat.

Little Pierce responded well, he's a year old now.

"The whole plan was to get Pierce to a point where we could actually get him a kidney transplant," said Izzy.

Things were starting to look up, and they met their kidney transplant team in UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

"Upon actually doing the transplant process and screening, we met the team everyone was wonderful," said Izzy. "This was a couple of weeks ago they did kind of a routine ultrasound where they found a couple liver masses that turned out to be cancerous."

They were numb, the cards were stacked against them. But despite that, they selflessly think of others going through tough times, and ask for prayers for Pierce.

"Yes there's been a GoFundMe set up but we, more so than any kind of financial contribution we prefer prayers. You know, not just for Pierce but for any kid that's struggling," said Izzy.

"It's humbling. We never thought we'd be in this position but here we are and the support of everyone around us is really helpful," said Valerie.

Valerie is asking those who can to donate to Wings Flights of Hope, an organization that provides free medical transportation, which got her and Pierce to Pittsburgh.

Valerie and Izzy said Pierce is tough, calling him the ultimate fighter.