Ms. Saria, of Egg Harbor City, found a near-perfect match in her mother, Nana Gulua, but the U.S. State Department denied refused several times to allow Ms. Gulua to travel to the United States to save her daughter’s life. After Ms. Saria reached out to Sen. Menendez for help, he was able to help secure humanitarian parole through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allow Ms. Gulua to travel to the U.S. for the surgery.

The transplant surgery was successfully completed on Dec. 1, 2016. Ms. Saria and Ms. Gulua are recovering.