At Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, heavyweight contender and former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham and his wife Livvy were overjoyed this morning to receive the news that their 9 year old daughter Kennedy’s heart transplant surgery was a success.
The fearless Kennedy went into surgery around 3:00am. Kennedy’s pre-surgery comment was, “When the clock says it’s about to be fight time, you need to pack up and go. It’s about to be fight time right now.”
Kennedy has emerged as the champion in this fight! At 7:30am, the surgeon, Dr. Victor Morell reported that the heart was placed and beating. About an hour and a half later Dr Morell confirmed the surgery went well and the risk factors they were concerned with ended up not being issues at all. The Cunningham’s feel incredibly blessed.
Steve and Livvy issued this statement:
“We are so happy to share that early this morning our daughter Kennedy received the gift of life. She received her new heart and is doing very well. This day is so very special to us and the promise of a better and longer life for our daughter trumps any victory boxing could ever give us. This is the ultimate championship right here. We would like to thank everyone for their continued prayers and support. And most importantly we send our sincere condolences to the donor family that through their extraordinary selflessness made this day possible for our daughter. We are forever grateful!”
