A successful transplant is always cause for celebration, but especially when it is a story as touching as Samuel and Daniel Alves’ is: after 40 days of being apart for health precaution reasons, the three-year old identical twins were able to see each other again and commemorate their triumph and health. Diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, a rare genetic disease, the only available cure is a bone marrow transplant.

The boys are from a small city of Brejo Santo, in Ceará, a state in northeastern Brazil, which didn’t have adequate healthcare for their case and had to travel 3,000 kilometers (approximately 1,864 miles) to receive treatment from Pequeno Príncipe Hospital. They were fortunate to find a compatible donor, who was also located in another state: in Minas Gerais, 1,000 kilometers (about 621 miles) from Curitiba.

The transplant was performed in June and the twins have already been discharged from the Hospital, but continue to receive follow up care from our doctors. “I thank God and hope that He will protect this donor and his family, because with his one-time donation, he was able to save both of my children,” thankfully declared Suzete da Silva Alves, the boys’ mother.

Watch this video to learn more about Samuel and Daniel’s story.