Maria Fiorille has been working to comfort victims of serious illnesses, especially those awaiting organ donations. She knows the pain these people and their families are experiencing, because she lost her mother, Sharon, to liver disease in January.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Maria Fiorille holds a picture of her mother, Sharon Fiorille, in her Moravia home on Wednesday afternoon. Maria began making and donating blankets to liver transplant recipients after Sharon died from Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, a rare liver disease for which she had received two livers.
Maria Fiorille holds a picture of her mother, Sharon Fiorille, in her Moravia home on Wednesday afternoon. Maria began making and donating blankets to liver transplant recipients after Sharon died from Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, a rare liver disease for which she had received two livers.
The first blanket Maria made was for her mother, while she was undergoing treatment at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Sharon kept the blanket close to her wherever she went. It wasn't just the physical comfort that blanket offered, but it was the loved and devotion it represented.
Sharon Fiorille grew up in Moravia and worked for the Southern Cayuga Central School District as the secretary for the Committee on Special Education. She was described by some of her co-workers as following a curriculum that was “comprised of courage and caring for others.” She received her first liver transplant in 1999. Within 10 years her body rejected the liver, putting Sharon's health and life at risk. She received a second liver in November 2006, but before she could be released to a nursing home for rehabilitative therapy, an aneurysm took her life.
In memory of her mother and to repay the kindness and skilled medical care Sharon received at Strong, Maria is making blankets in her spare time. She works full-time and is attending college. Acting as a partner to Maria's efforts is TAO, the Transplant Awareness Organization based at Strong Hospital.
“We've delivered 11 blankets so far at Strong,” Maria said. “My father and I went with Debbie on the first round. Even after the loss of my mother, it's nice to know you can still bring a smile to people's faces.” Debbie is Debbie Yendrzeski, a member of the TAO board of directors.
The first recipients of the blankets were two men who had received new livers, a man awaiting a heart transplant and a woman who had just received a new kidney. The donor received a blanket as well. TAO is calling the program the “Transplant Blanket Project.”
Maria was only 6 years old when her mother's long battle for health began.
“My mother was in and out of hospitals a lot when I was little,” she remembers. “Although her first liver was rejected by her body, it gave her almost seven years of life she might not have had. We felt blessed that she had those extra years. She often wondered if she was making a difference in anyone else's life, but everyone else knew that she was.”
Maria added that written on her mother's tombstone is “She made a difference.”
TAO is an association that was set up to help individuals who have received or are waiting for new organs, the families of those people and the donors. Members offer counseling that supplements that given by medical and social service professionals. According to TAO statistics, almost 100,000 people are currently waiting for organs, with the highest number, more than 74,000, being for kidneys. Liver patients are second with about 16,000, and the other organs include heart and lung.
Maria says that donations of money or gift cards to JoAnne Fabrics or Wal-Mart would be appreciated so she can buy the materials and supplies she needs to make the blankets. Donations of material may be brought to Bass Pro Shops at the attention of George Fiorille, Maria's father. Or Maria may be contacted at PO Box 444, Moravia, NY, 13118.
On the Net
Visit www.TAO-Rochester.org and www.donatelife.net
Sharon Fiorille grew up in Moravia and worked for the Southern Cayuga Central School District as the secretary for the Committee on Special Education. She was described by some of her co-workers as following a curriculum that was “comprised of courage and caring for others.” She received her first liver transplant in 1999. Within 10 years her body rejected the liver, putting Sharon's health and life at risk. She received a second liver in November 2006, but before she could be released to a nursing home for rehabilitative therapy, an aneurysm took her life.
In memory of her mother and to repay the kindness and skilled medical care Sharon received at Strong, Maria is making blankets in her spare time. She works full-time and is attending college. Acting as a partner to Maria's efforts is TAO, the Transplant Awareness Organization based at Strong Hospital.
“We've delivered 11 blankets so far at Strong,” Maria said. “My father and I went with Debbie on the first round. Even after the loss of my mother, it's nice to know you can still bring a smile to people's faces.” Debbie is Debbie Yendrzeski, a member of the TAO board of directors.
The first recipients of the blankets were two men who had received new livers, a man awaiting a heart transplant and a woman who had just received a new kidney. The donor received a blanket as well. TAO is calling the program the “Transplant Blanket Project.”
Maria was only 6 years old when her mother's long battle for health began.
“My mother was in and out of hospitals a lot when I was little,” she remembers. “Although her first liver was rejected by her body, it gave her almost seven years of life she might not have had. We felt blessed that she had those extra years. She often wondered if she was making a difference in anyone else's life, but everyone else knew that she was.”
Maria added that written on her mother's tombstone is “She made a difference.”
TAO is an association that was set up to help individuals who have received or are waiting for new organs, the families of those people and the donors. Members offer counseling that supplements that given by medical and social service professionals. According to TAO statistics, almost 100,000 people are currently waiting for organs, with the highest number, more than 74,000, being for kidneys. Liver patients are second with about 16,000, and the other organs include heart and lung.
Maria says that donations of money or gift cards to JoAnne Fabrics or Wal-Mart would be appreciated so she can buy the materials and supplies she needs to make the blankets. Donations of material may be brought to Bass Pro Shops at the attention of George Fiorille, Maria's father. Or Maria may be contacted at PO Box 444, Moravia, NY, 13118.
On the Net
Visit www.TAO-Rochester.org and www.donatelife.net
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