After viral TikTok video, this local family gets life-saving news

Great news to share! Back in July, KDKA and Kidsburgh did a story about a 10-year-old girl from South Fayette whose TikTok video asking for a kidney for her dad, Ryan Neve, went viral.

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, UPMC called Ryan to tell him they have a living donor who will give his or her kidney to him, and the surgery is scheduled for January 5.

Ryan talked with KDKA’s Kristine Sorensen and her husband Marty Griffin, with KDKA Radio and “Get Marty,” who began the public plea for help soon after learning of Ryan’s situation. He said that when he got the call from UPMC, he had to pull over in his car because he was crying so hard.

Ryan has been going to dialysis three times a week because he has only 4% function left in his kidneys. Not only is it exhausting, it’s also ravaging his body and is not a long-term solution.

“I trust the doctors and I trusted the process, but when you’re in the middle of it, it can be very hard to find hope,” he said.

His daughter, Daniella, already had a big following on TikTok as one of the top softball players in the country for her age, with her account showing 84,000 followers and her softball videos having four million likes. When she posted that she wanted people to see if they were a match for her dad who needed a kidney, it went viral.

That’s when Marty and Kristine jumped in to help spread the word even further.

The Neves don’t know who the donor is and say they are incredibly grateful for whoever is willing to donate their kidney.

“It is the most selfless act that I could ever imagine someone could do,” Ryan told Kristine. “They truly are my angel for doing this. It just brings tears to my eyes thinking about this, because someone doesn’t have to do that.”

Check out coverage about the kidney donation here on KDKA.