2-time organ donor from Connecticut set to give gift of life again

A 38-year-old man from Connecticut is getting ready to give the gift of life once again, this time to help a complete stranger in Pittsburgh.

News 12 Staff

Dec 5, 2020, 4:26 PM

Updated 1,464 days ago

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A 38-year-old man from Connecticut is getting ready to give the gift of life once again, this time to help a complete stranger in Pittsburgh.
Anthony Cernera is the director of philanthropy at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport. Four years ago, he donated a kidney to a man in Queens. Three years ago, he made a stem cell donation for a grandmother battling leukemia.
"I matched with a woman out in California who's 30 years my senior, and I think the odds are something like 2.5 million to 1," says Cernera .
Now he's getting ready to head to Pittsburgh over the weekend to donate part of his liver.
"Rewarding way of getting to know somebody and helping somebody in a real unique way and excited to be able to do this," says Cernera. "And I suspect when we do get a chance to meet there will be a new friendship there that I'm looking forward to."
Cernera says he gets so much out of helping others.
"It's given my life a lot of meaning and purpose and quite frankly hope," says Cernera.
Cernera says he's nervous about his next operation but will use his skydiving training to help him get through it. Cernera will be in the hospital for five to seven days.
Cernera says he hopes that someday he'll be able to skydive with all three of the people he has helped.