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A GoFundMe page said Michael Vacchiano went to Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch for the procedure on Thursday, June 13. When he was brought into the operating room, he threw up, aspirated, and went into cardiac arrest.
Doctors tried life-saving measures but Vacchiano went into cardiac arrest again. Specialists traveled from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center to connect him to a life support machine to relieve lung pressure and get his organs to function.
Testing confirmed Vacciano had minimal brain activity and he died on Monday, June 17.
"Michael is the love of my life and has been my husband for six years," his wife Meghan Vacchiano wrote on the GoFundMe page. "He helped me create the two most beautiful, perfect children on Earth: Tessa (five years old) and Nicholas (18 months). His life ended so unexpectedly and my heart is shattered into a million pieces."
The GoFundMe page had raised more than $31,200 from at least 390 donations as of Tuesday, June 18 to pay for funeral expenses.
"I don’t know how I’ll do life without him," Meghan Vacchiano wrote.
Vacchiano worked at Long Branch High School for 15 years, according to his wife. A 2016 directory listed him as an instructional assistant for the LBHS leadership school and a 2012 directory said he was an instructional assistant for the STEM school.
Meghan Vacciano also said Michael is "dying a hero" by donating his organs, tissues, and corneas.
"Michael’s legacy of love and generosity continues through his organ donations, and we are honored to share that your contributions are helping us lay him to rest," she wrote in an update on Tuesday, June 18.
You can click here to see the GoFundMe page for Michael Vacchiano.
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