MEET TONY:

Tony Pasquino was born January 28, 1992, in Charleston, SC.  He was 7 weeks early and weighed 4 ½ pounds and by the end of his first week he weighed only 2 pounds.  At 3 months old, Tony was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (www.cff.org), a progressive lung and digestive disease.  Tony’s first 12 years were pretty smooth – no hospitalizations, minor surgeries and daily routine of vitamins and enzymes to help Tony’s digestive system work properly in addition to twice-a-day breathing treatments. 

Tony was diagnosed with liver disease on January 18, 2004.  We took Tony on March 3, 2008 to the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital where he was placed on the liver transplant list on March 12, 2008.  We are asking you to help Tony receive a new liver to give him a better quality of life, to feel well and to live without so much pain. 

Tony has the strength to endure his intense medical treatments with an ease that few others could or would tolerate.  He gives us strength to travel with him on this roller coaster ride of Cystic Fibrosis and Liver Disease. 

With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant patients are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-needy patients. In Summerville, volunteers are raising funds for transplant patients like local teen Tony Pasquino.

The doctors at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, recommended a life-saving liver transplant. An estimated $100,000 is being raised by Summerville volunteers (“Team Tony”).     

 TEAM TONY WOULD LIKE TO SEND A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO BOB AND FIONA GRYGIEL AND FAMILY FOR THEIR GENEROUS DONATION OF OVER $7,500.00 TO TONY'S CAMPAIGN.

BOB AND FIONA ORGANIZE A GOLF AND TENNIS TOURNAMENT EACH YEAR IN HONOR OF THEIR DAUGHTER, LAURA, WHO WAS AN ORGAN DONOR HERSELF WHEN SHE PASSED AWAY AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 16.  THIS YEAR, BOB AND FIONA CHOSE TO DONATE THE PROCEEDS OF THE TOURNAMENT (HELD OCT. 20 IN HILTON HEAD) TO TONY!  AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR KINDNESS AND GENEROSITY!!!