Pediatrician Michael Geraldi, Father To 88 Children, Has Lost His Battle To Mesothelioma Cancer

According to Legacy.com, pediatrician Michael Geraldi lost his battle to mesothelioma cancer just one day after his 73rd birthday on Tuesday, March 8.

At the time of his death the pediatrician and his wife, Camille Geraldi, had adopted (or become the full legal guardians of) 88 different children. The Miami Herald reports that 31 of the kids are currently living, and the youngest is just 7-years-old.

Parents of patients of the late Michael Geraldi have had nothing but positive things to say about the pediatrician on his practice’s Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/joan.block2/activity/10207974250286656

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A Brief Look at the Life of Doctor Michael Geraldi

Despite being in his 70s, the pediatrician continued to work at his Kendall-area practice nearly a month before his death. Roughly a month before he passed away, Geraldi had to stop working because of how much the cancer treatments had weakened him.

Michael Geraldi was born on March 7, 1943, in Forest Hills, New York. He studied medicine at both New York University and Columbia University. It was at the Meharry Medical College in Nashville where Geraldi earned his medical degree.

Meeting Camille Changed The Pediatrician’s Life

Michael met his significant other in 1972 in the gastroenterology ward at the Miami Children’s Hospital. It was in room 238 where the pediatrician saw her for the first time as she was cradling a sick baby in her arms.

According to Mrs. Geraldi, “He tells the story to his patients. It was not romantic.”

Camille was a woman who had dreamed about caring for sick and unwanted kids since as long as she could remember. It was the interest that she and Michael shared in providing love and care for needy children that morphed into a romantic interest in each other.

The Possible Dream Foundation website reports that Michael and his wife started adopting kids with spina bifida, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy shortly after they were married. Some of the kids also had developmental disabilities, autism, and extreme facial deformities. In some situations, people would drop kids off at the Geraldis’ doorstep. Some of the kids were left with a note and some were left with nothing at all.

Following 18 adoptions and three healthy births, Michael and Camille Geraldi founded a non-profit organization and called it Up With Down Syndrome Foundation. Some of the children within the care of Mr. and Mrs. Geraldi were exceeding both their doctor’s expectancies and their own life expectancies.

As the Geraldi family continued to grow, they faced more and more challenges along the way. Mrs. Geraldi revealed in the 60 Minute clip above that her obsession with the organization is the reason they are able to make it work. When the couple had more than a dozen children under the age of 5, they utilized a basket system with the children’s names in order to keep things organized.

Mr. and Mrs. Geraldi focused on teaching those they adopted how to do routine, daily tasks on their own. The couple also never gave up on a child simply because the doctor claimed the child wouldn’t make it. In the 60 Minute clip above, Camille talks about several different children who were considered “lifeless” and “helpless” by their doctors. The clip later reveals that not only were these babies not “lifeless” and “helpless,” but they grew up to be happy teenagers and young adults thanks to this pediatrician and his spouse.

Over the years, the struggles Mr. and Mrs. Geraldi faced were far from easy. Some of these struggles included losing three different homes, Hurricane Andrews destroying Michael’s pediatric practice, and hostile vandalism and threats from people who did not agree with the couple’s way of life.

In time, the Up With Down Syndrome Foundation was renamed as the Possible Dream Foundation. Mr. and Mrs. Geraldi evolved the organization to provide disabled adults with job training and assistance for parents of dependents with special needs. Even the staff of the foundation have nothing but positive things to say about this pediatrician.

“I’ve never met a more caring individual. He never turned any patient away. He was one of those doctors who still made house calls.”

Teresa Van Zee, Possible Dreams’ administrative assistant, and the 60 Minute documentary on the pediatrician, and his spouse seen above revealed that Michael Geraldi provided free medical care to those in need and refused to turn any patients away.

The pediatrician’s wife confirmed that “he loved his practice as much as he loved his family.”

Mr. and Mrs. Geraldi had just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 2015. The two had scheduled their very first romantic vacation for April of this year. The plan was for the pediatrician and his spouse to take a cruise to Cancún which included a stop in Haiti.

Sad news for the special needs community. He was Tony's doctor, too. RIP, Spiderdoc! https://t.co/xOLwdsbCeR

— Villa Lyan (@VillaLyan) March 18, 2016

[Image via Shutterstock]