NYC father receives kidney from girl allegedly killed by mother and boyfriend

For Bronx “super dad” Freddy Ramirez, receiving a much-needed kidney should have been a cause for celebration — but the happy news was overshadowed by tragedy when he learned the life-saving organ came from a young girl whose mother and teenage boyfriend were charged in her death last month.

Ramirez, 43, father of an 8-year-old boy with autism, had been ill for over a year and undergoing intensive dialysis treatments when he received the heartbreaking call that a kidney had been found for him.

But despite the successful transplant, the recovery has been bittersweet since the family learned that the organ once belonged to Octavia Aquino, a four-year-old girl from Indiana who tragically died on Father’s Day last month.

Ramirez’s wife, Eileen Irizarry-Ramirez, 42, told The Post on Thursday that she felt compelled to find the family of little Octavia, who was allegedly brutalized by her mother, 23-year-old Destiny Rhoades, and her mother’s 16-year-old boyfriend, Christian Gonzalez.

“My husband is in shock. He is grateful and grieving right now,” Irizarry-Ramirez said.

“Nobody prepares you for this. Yes, you are grateful, but the pain the family is feeling is beyond my comprehension and I was not prepared for it,” she added.

“You feel all these emotions with them even though you don’t know them.”

The call that Ramirez had received a kidney, even though the waiting list can be years long, was a shock to the family. But learning that the kidney came from a child – even though doctors had initially said it was from a young adult – was incredibly upsetting.

“The doctors had told him, ‘We’re going to keep a closer eye on you because you’ve received a pediatric kidney,'” Irizarry-Ramirez said. “Of course, we weren’t told that and he was overwhelmed with emotion. He completely broke down and cried.”

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), kidneys from children can be successfully transplanted to adult recipients, usually with successful long-term outcomes.

Irizarry-Ramirez remembers doctors telling them not to worry about the kidney – and having to explain that her husband was not worried but rather upset about the child’s death.

According to a June 17 statement, Evansville police said Octavia was found “cold to the touch” and had bruises and a bite mark on her body. Gonzalez, her mother’s boyfriend, admitted to being responsible.

Gonzalez was charged as an adult with the girl’s murder, while her mother, Rhoades, was charged with neglect resulting in death, among other things, police said.

“We’ve already asked our own family to pray for the family of the young person who died. And then to find out it was a child, I think, was really traumatic for (Ramirez),” his wife said.

Irizarry-Ramirez said she also felt an overwhelming need to contact Octavia’s paternal grandmother to try to express her gratitude – even though she knew her grandmother might not want to talk.

What she didn’t know was that the grandmother, Linda Alvarez, whose son was the child’s father, had been inquiring about the people who had received Octavia’s organs and wanted to know if their operations had gone well.

“I just wanted to tell her that she needed to hear from me that day, she needed a sign from her granddaughter,” Irizarry-Ramirez said of her conversation with Alvarez. I don’t know if you know that your granddaughter was my husband’s donor, but those are the details. And she said that she needed to hear from me that particular day, she needed a sign from her granddaughter,” Irizarry-Ramirez said of her conversation with Alvarez.

“I feel like we’re family, and I want to protect my family. I want to support my family. And I thought there was no better way than this. And she felt the same way, she was just grateful that we reached out,” she recalled tearfully.

When we reached Alvarez by phone Friday afternoon, she said she experienced “a whirlwind of emotions” as she heard story after story of people whose lives were saved by her beloved Octavia.

“I’m so grateful that she was able to help and be a little hero and save other lives. Just knowing that even though she’s no longer with us – and I want her here with us so much – she lives on through others,” Alvarez told The Post.

She said meeting the recipients of Octavia’s life-giving organs was deeply touching and made things “a little easier” for her devastated family.

“Knowing how grateful they are and hearing their stories and everything is just incredible and makes me so happy,” she said.

“We made something good out of something so terrible.”

The couple’s reaction to the news of where the kidney came from was partly because they themselves are loving parents of a young child.

Irizarry-Ramirez and her husband, who serve as chairman and secretary of their son Evan’s parent advisory board, are real superheroes to their son, who is a huge Marvel fan, the mother said.

“We have a child with special needs and it is important to have his father nearby,” Irizarry-Ramirez said.

“My son thinks I can fix everything. He told me, ‘Mommy, fix Daddy,’ and that broke my heart because as a parent you have to fix everything.”

Despite his father’s illness, Evan survived the operation incredibly well and told everyone at school the next day how his “superhero” dad was getting better, his mother said.

“He explained to people how an 8-year-old child with autism spectrum disorder can best express himself. He even understood how amazing that was and how amazing it was that his father was able to recover afterward,” Irizarry-Ramirez said.

Irizarry-Ramirez and her husband hope that by sharing their story, they can honor little Octavia and raise awareness about the importance of organ donation.

“It’s not that the hospital didn’t try to save Octavia. They did. They did multiple scans. They did two different brain wave tests,” Irizarry-Ramirez said.

“Just because you’re an organ donor doesn’t mean they won’t try to save your life. I think that’s a common misconception within the minority community, and we are minorities. That stigma just doesn’t save other people anymore. And how beautiful it is to think that our loved ones live on through others.”

According to Irizarry-Ramirez, Octavia’s organs saved the lives of at least seven people.

“I believe Miss Octavia saved seven people. Her kidneys, her heart, her lungs. She made such a difference in such a short time and left such a legacy, and we will always remember her. We will celebrate her life and make sure her family feels supported,” she said.

She continued, “And also to get their story out there. Child abuse is a big deal and should never go unreported. These people should face the ultimate consequences for the lives they stole from them.”

A memorial service was held for Octavia on June 28, where her family was “showered with love and support,” Alvarez wrote on a GoFundMe page raising funds to help her loved ones get through the tragedy.

“This was definitely the hardest day of my family’s life. I know we will get through this together. I know we will continue to fight against injustice together until those who did this get what they deserve.”