{"id":215790,"date":"2026-04-30T19:28:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/215790\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T19:28:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:28:37","slug":"news-12-bronx-two-brothers-one-rare-disease-and-a-race-against-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/215790\/","title":{"rendered":"News 12 | Bronx | Two Brothers One Rare Disease And A Race Against Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two brothers are facing the fight of their lives in a medical crisis that is growing more urgent by the day.<\/p>\n

They turned to News 12’s senior reporter Tara Rosenblum for help.<\/p>\n

Anthony Spina has been battling a rare genetic disease since childhood. Now, at 41, he needs a second kidney transplant to stay alive.<\/p>\n

“My kidney percentage is 6% they work right now. So, without the dialysis, I would probably die in a couple months,” he says. <\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

His younger brother, Nicholas, is facing the same diagnosis.<\/p>\n

“We both need transplants at the same time right now,” he says. “I’ve been on the waiting list seven years this month.”<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Their crisis hits close to home for our News 12 family – the brothers are cousins of News 12’s own morning anchor, Rich Barrabi. <\/p>\n

The Spinas aren’t alone. They are just two of nearly 12,000 people across the tri-state area who are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant – with one of the largest and longest waitlists in the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n

BREAKDOWN OF ORGAN WAITING LISTS:<\/p>\n

New York<\/p>\n

7,993<\/p>\n

New Jersey <\/p>\n

2,495<\/p>\n

Connecticut <\/p>\n

1,163<\/p>\n

Source: Donate Life America <\/p>\n

“There’s so many people. And we’re all in the same boat. It’s just it’s just sad,” says Anthony. <\/p>\n

For the past decade, the Turn to Tara team has investigated why this crisis persists – one that claims roughly 500 local lives every year.<\/p>\n

MORE: Leaving to Live: A Turn to Tara Investigation, Part 1<\/a> <\/p>\n

MORE: Leaving To Live Part 2: An Agonizing Wait <\/a><\/p>\n

Rosenblum’s investigation uncovered a troubling mix of factors, including a shortage of donors, policy barriers and inequities in access, which have all contributed to waiting periods that can stretch for years – often depending on a patient’s ZIP code.<\/p>\n

“It’s ridiculous, the wait. New York, this has to change,” says Nick.<\/p>\n

There has been some progress since the Turn To Tara investigation began. <\/p>\n

New York rolled out a first-in-the-nation program last year to help cover costs for living donors, and a new law now lets patients register at multiple transplant centers – even out of state, which expands their chance for a match. <\/p>\n

Advocates say more needs to be done. <\/p>\n

“Organ donation is literally the difference between life and death,” says state Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia.<\/p>\n

Tapia is pushing for a bill this session that would let New Yorkers sign up as organ donors while filing their taxes online. It’s modeled after similar legislation in Michigan. <\/p>\n

The Bronx Democrat knows the fight firsthand. She has one son who waited years for a transplant and another still in dialysis. <\/p>\n

The efforts come with urgency: just 53% of eligible New Yorkers are registered as organ donors, which is well below the national average. In New Jersey and Connecticut, the numbers are even more dire. <\/p>\n

“I understand it’s hard to give up a kidney. It’s the only way to save me,” says Anthony. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two brothers are facing the fight of their lives in a medical crisis that is growing more urgent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-215790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}