A father and daughter reunited Tuesday after they both underwent surgery last week. She gave him her kidney.
Brianna Laviero and her dad Jeff are recovering together after lengthy surgeries last week at Yale New Haven Hospital.
Jeff suffers from a rare condition where scar tissue builds up in the kidney. He said it effects seven in one million people a year.
Jeff had a kidney transplant about 11 years ago, but more recently, that transplanted kidney stopped working.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
"Fatigue started in. That was the big one," Jeff said.
Brianna, who was about 16 at that time, was too young to see if she was a match for a kidney transplant. This time, she was excited to walk over to her dad's room a few hours after her surgery.
Local
"My kidney gets to go on adventures with my dad!" Brianna said.
Jeff said he feels like "Jeff 3.0" right now.
"It meant everything. He's given me everything and now I can give it back," Brianna said.
Jeff said he's happy he can go back to doing activities he loves like rock climbing, hiking, winter sports and more.
"I hope this will bring more awareness especially to younger people. Even if you can't be a living donor, sign up to be a donor on your license you can save up to eight lives. It makes a big difference," Brianna said.
