A Yonkers woman is helping give the gift of life to children in Kosovo.

News 12 has obtained video of a 3-year-old girl taking her first steps after undergoing a lifesaving heart surgery last week.
Albana Krasniqi, of Yonkers, was there.  

She is an unpaid board member of Gift of Life International which provides free heart surgeries to children across the world 5 years old and younger. 

She helped raise $500,000 to help save the lives of 240 children in Kosovo.

"Some of these surgeries are so simple, conditions are so simple that here in the U.S. they take it for granted. They get it done, and they move on. But over there, these kids will die if they don't have these procedures," says Krasniqi.

It's the third trip by the nonprofit organization to Kosovo this year. Last year, their missions across the world were canceled because of COVID, putting surgeries on hold.

Albana was honored last month during Albanian Heritage Month by the Westchester County Board of Legislators.

During her trip last week, the president of Kosovo awarded her and Gift of Life with the presidential award for humanitarian work. Albana says the real reward is healing little hearts.