Siblings don’t always like to share, but when Rey Mendoza of Miami Lakes needed a new kidney, his brother, Christopher, decided to part with one of his own.
“My brother saw how severe the situation had gotten,” Mendoza said. “And that’s when he was like, ‘No, I have to do something’ “.
Rey Mendoza was 21 when he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. By his early 30s, the condition had progressed to renal failure. He recalled the moment the severity hit him: “I was leaving school one day, and I was driving home, and I remember I got this really, really sharp pain in my abdomen to the point I couldn’t drive,” he explained.
Dr. Neerja Agrawal with Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital said it is rare for kidney dialysis patients to be so young.
“In general, patients like Rey or someone below 30 years old are not the most common patients who undergo a kidney transplant,” Dr. Agrawal said. She noted that it’s a good thing, “Because the main causes of kidney failure in our country are mainly diabetes and high blood pressure”.
After several family members checked for compatibility, Christopher, who is currently in the Air Force serving overseas, was found to be the most compatible match. The email noted that this act of selflessness is not new for his brother.
The brothers both underwent surgery and were “up and moving” within days. Agrawal explained that recovery is faster with a living donor because the kidney goes directly from the donor to the recipient.
For Rey, the change was immediate. “I immediately felt like I had seen life through new eyes,” Rey said. “This monster that had been haunting me for 2.5 years, it just went away overnight. I didn’t have to do dialysis anymore.”
Rey now competes in the Transplant Games of America, a national event held every two years that celebrates organ, eye, and tissue donations. Though he has multiple medals, he says his health will always be his greatest prize.
“There’s something beautiful that came out of everything that I had to go through,” he said. “Just being able to prove that I’m not a victim of this disease”.
While some donors choose to donate specifically to family members, others are known as altruistic donors, who choose to donate to anyone who may need it.
To learn how to register to be an organ donor, visit Donate Life’s page for National Donate Life Month.
