The gift of Life: Haverstraw kidney transplant recipient celebrated with parade

Well, you first heard her story right here on News 12. Beloved Haverstraw teacher, Nicole Follari, desperately needed a kidney transplant. Well, a local man stepped up, and now the community is holding a parade in their honor. News 12's Aaron Brown takes us there. Celebrating more life, family, friends, and first responders took part in a parade celebrating the successful surgery and kidney transplant for Nicole Follari. No one really thinks that they are ever going to need this, so when you get the opportunity to have this and someone steps up, it's not anything that you could ever repay them for. Follari was diagnosed six years ago on Easter Sunday with sclerosis of the kidney, a chronic disease where the fundamental parts of the kidney tissue start to break down. So I was at about 15% function for about six years. She shares some of what she felt during her journey. Physically, you feel very tired. You feel emotionally exhausted. A lot of times I'd come home from work and have to sleep through the night because it would just be a lot to handle. It was traumatic. There was nothing I could do to make the situation better. And I think you just become in this fight mode of, like, I need to figure it out. I need to find someone who will donate their kidney to me. And that someone was closer than expected. I knew the Follaris for eight years, and I said, you know what? I'm going to take the test and see if I match and see if I can save a life. Antonio Mateus is a neighbor and parent to one of Follari's students. He wants people to understand what it's like being a donor. I'm hoping that this reaches a lot of people and that they realize that it's a journey. Man, it's a little painful, but the end result is amazing. And Nicole is going to live a long, healthy life, and so will I. And it's not as bad as people think. And Follari wants people to understand the severity of kidney disease. I think people don't realize it's, like, that bad. I want people to realize that, you know, with the right support system, you can get through it. And with the right doctors, you can get through it. And, of course, the third piece of this is with the donors. Forever grateful for everything and for that Antonio did, that his family did. And I just, I hope that more people can, you know, realize that, like, hey, like, this is a good thing for everyone involved. In Garneville, Rockland County, Aaron Brown, News 12.