Toddler who died in hot car saves four children through organ donation

Through death, Elena Petriozzi saves four lives

22 month old Elena Petriozzi lost the battle for her life in Ancona's Salesi pediatric hospital after her father forgot her in the car for over five hours in sweltering heat. Her death, however, meant that four other children could get a new lease on life.

BBC reports that Lucio Petrizzi, a professor of veterinary medicine, was supposed to drop off his baby daughter at a day care center before going to his teaching job at Teramo University. However, he parked and locked the car with the child strapped to the car seat. When he returned five hours later, the child was barely alive.

She was rushed to the hospital and operated upon to relieve the massive swelling in the brain. All attempts to save her life proved futile as the little girl breathed her last three days later.

Her distraught parents gave permission for her heart, liver and kidneys to be donated to four children who had been waiting for organ donations. According to the Telegraph, Elena's heart had been donated to a 2 year old boy in Bergamo, her liver to one in Turin, while her kidneys saved the lives of two patients in Rome.

Dr Francesca De Pace, coordinator for transplants in the Ancona area revealed details of organ transplants that helped save life of four children. She praised the spirit of the heartbroken parents who gave new life and hope to other children in the midst of their personal loss.

 "It is an act to be admired, maybe an act to help them overcome this tragedy," she said.