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New Mom In Queens Undergoes Life-Saving Liver Transplant Surgery

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, one Queens mother has plenty to be grateful for, thanks to a life-saving transplant.

Forty-one-year-old Danielle Grafas, of Bayside, was 31 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with acute fatty liver disease in early June.

It's a rare and potentially fatal complication if it's not treated.

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Forty-one-year-old Danielle Grafas, of Bayside, was 31 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with acute fatty liver disease in early June. (Credit: CBS2)

Grafas had an emergency C-section at North Shore University Hospital on June 11, then slipped into a coma on June 28.

One day later, she had the liver transplant surgery that saved her life.

"It was an unexpected scary ride, but it worked out in the long run, and I'm very thankful and grateful," Grafas said.

RELATED STORY: NJ Man Donates Kidney To Father In Need Of Transplant After Surgery Was Delayed By Pandemic

"If this was during the time of COVID, two or three months earlier, it may not have happened," Dr. Lewis Teperman said.

Grafas was released from the hospital in July and says she's happy to be back home with her husband and new baby girl, Athena.

Athena spent some time in the neo-natal intensive care unit but got to go home on July 3.

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