Vandergrift parishioners devotion to Saint: One receives kidney transplant, blood drive scheduled to help to other

By Maria Guzzo
Contributing Writer

VANDERGRIFT – Two parishioners from St. Gertrude Church in Vandergrift who both suffer from a hereditary kidney disease are instilled with faith-filled wonder after one of them received a kidney transplant just days after ending a nine-week novena.

Friends encouraged the women to attend the weekly St. Anthony Novena at nearby Mount St. Peter parish in New Kensington  with the hope of petitioning Saint Anthony, known for finding things for faithful followers, to intercede for them to God to obtain them both kidneys if it’s God’s will.

Sheila Mendicino, 70, and Susan Kovalcik, 64, knew each other in passing from church, but spoke at length a few years ago when they ran into each other at St. Catherine’s Cemetery. Each became aware of the other’s battle with Polycystic Kidney Disease, in which the kidneys can become as large as footballs and full of cysts that render them unable to filter blood. The only treatments for PKD are dialysis or transplant.

Both women said novenas weren’t really on their religious radar previously. “But, I said this could be the Holy Spirit,” Mendicino said, and off they went with their friends Kurt and Tammy Amendola, also St. Gertrude parishioners.

After completing the final Tuesday evening Novena at Mount St. Peter Parish on June 11, they decided to attend Mass at St. Anthony Chapel in the Troy Hill section of Pittsburgh on  the Feast of Saint Anthony, June 13. They almost didn’t go because of a prior commitment they both had to volunteer at the St. Gertrude spaghetti dinner.

“But I said let’s go!” Mendocino said. “Why not do the whole shebang?”

So, they went to the Troy Hill chapel, prayed some more, touched another St. Anthony relic and got more blessed bread.

“The next morning at 5:30 a.m. I got a call that said we have a perfect kidney for you.” Mendocino said. “We still need to get a kidney for Susan.”

Kovalcik said she’s thankful that Mendocino was blessed with a kidney.

“I’m not going to say I didn’t wish that were me, but I’m so happy for her. When it’s my turn she’ll be the experienced one and can help me out. I’m thankful and blessed. St Anthony Masses were good, and I pray to God every day, all day, and ask him that everything works out.”

Kovalcik already received a miracle of her own. She explained that during the whole process of various and ongoing tests for PKD, doctors found an aneurism in her head and repaired it.

“It was really a blessing in disguise,” Kovalcik said. “If not for the thorough testing, I could be dead.”

Though her kidneys are still functioning, they are deteriorating rapidly, and she may need to start dialysis soon. The wait for a kidney donor typically takes three years.

“You just have to have faith,” Kovalcik said. “I’m going to get one in time.”

You can be part of the continued miracle by taking part in a blood drive this Thursday, July 25, from 1:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at St. Gertrude social hall, 303 Franklin Ave., Vandergrift. The blood drive is scheduled not only to gather blood for people in need, but also to check blood types for potential donors. Participating in the blood drive, however, does not mean you must be a kidney donor if your blood type matches. It’s completely voluntary.