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Kids' Video, Pleading For Kidney Donor For Their Mom, Goes Viral

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A woman from Monongahela is in need of a lifesaving kidney, and family members are genetically unable to donate one.

So her children came through with an Internet plea that has gone viral.

The video first appeared on a family Facebook page. Bailey, 8, and Tobias, 4, shared a desperate message: "Our mommy needs a kidney."

Diana Zippay has a genetic kidney condition, and her husband has diabetes, which makes it impossible to get a kidney from any family member.

But Diana says Bailey had an idea.

"My daughter immediately said, 'We have to make this video. We have to make this video, Mom. We need it. You have to get a kidney.' And I said, 'OK, let's see what we come up with,'" Zippay said.

What they came up with is a video that has gone viral. The phone has been ringing off the hook at Allegheny General Hospital, which does 100 kidney transplants a year.

Watch the full video here:

Dr. Lorenzo Machado says social media has helped find donors for many of his patients.

"If you look at the video and you see her two young children," he says. "I think that's a great tool, because it gives us a much wider audience overall."

"We just put something simple together," Zippay says. "We never thought it would take off like this. It's just two kids, like any American kids, who have gone through so much, pleading with people to help their mom."

Thanks to her children, she now has hope.

"I've waited so long for this miracle. It's been a year and a half. And so many people are willing to help us," she said.

If you would like more information about kidney donation, contact Allegheny General Hospital at 412-359-4441.

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