NAMES IN THE NEWS : Transplant Patient’s Yule Cheer

Alyssa Smith, the 22-month-old girl who underwent the nation’s first liver transplant from a living donor, played with Christmas gifts sent by well-wishers who included Frank Sinatra.

“She’s received a lot of cards and gifts from everywhere,” her father, John Smith, said Monday. “People from all walks of life have given things like dolls and stuff.

“Frank Sinatra sent her a doll,” her father said. “I thought that was real neat. People sent cards and money. That made us feel very loved.”

Alyssa and 16-month-old Sarina Jones, who received the nation’s second living-donor liver transplant, were recovering remarkably well at the University of Chicago Medical Center although both girls remained in critical but stable condition, spokeswoman Susan Phillips said.

The girls suffered from biliary atresia, a usually fatal congenital defect.

Alyssa received her transplant from her 29-year-old mother, Teresa, an elementary schoolteacher who was released from the hospital two weeks ago.

Since her Nov. 27 transplant, Alyssa has undergone three operations to stop bleeding on the liver’s surface, but doctors say she still is expected to be able to leave the hospital sometime after the first of the year.