Four Children, One Circle of Life: F4LC Opens a Fund for Pediatric Liver Transplants

A U.S. 501(c)(3) with a record of living-donor transplants in Mexico sets a public goal and pays hospitals and labs directly against invoices.

DALLAS, TX, UNITED STATES, September 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Fight For Life Club Foundation (F4LC), a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports children who need liver transplants in Mexico, today opened its Circle of Life Fund for the next phase of its program: four children who are in evaluation or preparation for living-donor liver transplants at the Instituto Nacional de Pediatría (INP) in Mexico City.

The Foundation has set a public goal of MXN 1,000,000 (approximately USD 55,000) and will report progress toward it openly.

Meet the four

Vasthi, who has just turned one, comes from the State of Mexico. Lucca, 20 months old, lives in Mexico City. Camila, 11 months old, comes from Campeche. Eliel, 14 months old, is from Jalisco. None of them is two years old yet. Each has a serious liver disease and is being evaluated for a transplant in which a healthy adult relative would donate part of their liver.

For their families, the hardest obstacles are often outside the operating room. Many travel from other states, leave their jobs and live near the hospital for weeks while donor tests, lodging, bus tickets and medications add up. Any one of those costs can delay a transplant that is otherwise possible.

What the record shows

In 2025, F4LC reported that two pediatric living-donor liver transplants were performed at INP in a single week with its logistical and financial support, and that three children received living-donor transplants within three months. The Foundation presented that experience at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT). In an earlier campaign, it raised MXN 1.5 million for a single dual surgery.

The most recent was Ailani. In September 2026, she received part of her uncle’s liver at INP, and the two left the hospital hand in hand. Her story is the reason the Foundation believes four more children can walk the same road.

What the Fund pays for, and how

F4LC does not practice medicine and does not select patients. Eligibility is determined by the treating medical team; donors do not choose which child is helped. The Fund covers the medical and non-medical costs that can stop an otherwise possible transplant: donor testing, family travel and lodging, medications and recovery support. Payments go directly to hospitals, laboratories and suppliers against invoices; no cash is transferred to families or institutions.

Living-donor transplantation requires both the child and the adult donor to complete a rigorous evaluation, and not every pair reaches surgery. For that reason, contributions support Vasthi, Lucca, Camila and Eliel and, if a case changes for medical reasons, the next eligible child.

“Our job is to give every child a second chance at life,” said José Manuel Cadena Ortiz de Montellano, founder and President of F4LC and himself a liver transplant recipient.

Why living donation matters in Mexico

According to Mexico’s National Transplant Center (CENATRA), 148 children died waiting for a liver between 2014 and 2024, more than one child a month on average. At the end of 2025, 48 patients aged 0 to 19 were on the national liver waiting list. For many of these children, living donation, in which a healthy adult relative gives part of their liver, is the most realistic path. In 2025, INP performed five of the fourteen pediatric living-donor liver transplants recorded in Mexico.

The medical team

At INP, the transplant program is led by Dr. Francisco Antonio Medina Vega, Chief of the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic and Transplant Surgery Unit, and Dr. Esperanza Vidales Nieto, pediatric and transplant surgeon, whose team performed the Institute’s first pediatric liver transplant in 2021 and its first living-donor liver transplant in February 2025. Both are named in their institutional capacities only.

F4LC board member and lead surgeon Dr. Manuel I. Rodríguez-Dávalos, MD, FACS, a transplant surgeon at Montefiore Einstein in New York and President of SPLIT, collaborates with the team under the authorization of the treating hospital. He serves without fee; F4LC reimburses only documented travel expenses. His institutional roles are stated for identification only.

How to help

Individuals can support the program at https://donate.fightforlifeclub.org/checkout. Companies can sponsor the pathway of one child (approximately MXN 250,000), match employee gifts or run a workplace campaign; every corporate partner receives an itemized report of how its funds were used. Contributions are tax-deductible in the United States to the extent allowed by law.

The Foundation’s work, including Ailani’s story and the four children now in the program, is documented in the Fight For Life Club Foundation magazine at https://revista.fightforlifeclub.org/eng/.

About F4LC

Fight For Life Club Foundation (F4LC) is the public name of Fight 4 Life Inc, a Delaware nonprofit corporation recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 87-3179655), founded by liver transplant recipient José Manuel Cadena Ortiz de Montellano. It funds the costs of pediatric liver transplants in Mexico, promotes living donation, and pays providers directly against invoices. More information: https://fightforlifeclub.org

Issued solely by F4LC. INP, SPLIT and the Government of Mexico do not endorse, sponsor or solicit funds through this release; donations are received only by F4LC.

Manuel Cadena
Fight 4 Life Inc
+1 972-468-0077
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United for Health — Fight For Life Club Foundation (2025)

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