HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida man is giving his mother the ultimate gift this holiday season.
Magdalena Morgan was in desperate need of a kidney donor, and her son’s decision became a life-saving act.
“It was amazing,” said Morgan. “It was a miracle, and it wasn’t just them. It was God too.”
The mother receiving the gift of life just in time for the holidays.
Morgan has been on dialysis for 12 years and was denied a transplant several times, but that would all change this year.
“The truth is, I was about to give up on dialysis,” she said. “I mean, I had tried at like four hospitals, and they told me no.”
It turns out her 43-year-old son, Jason, was a perfect match for his mom to serve as a living donor for her kidney transplant.
She received her new kidney on Oct. 24.
“My son is a special man,” said Morgan. “He’s a very generous person. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s a good father, he’s a good husband, [and] he’s a good son.”
This came at a time when Memorial Health is seeing a growth in the need for kidney transplants with more patients on the waitlist.
To put this into perspective, more than 90,000 people were on the waiting list. however, just over only 24,600 transplants were performed, but living donors can make all the difference.
“We’ve done about 120, which is triple the volume it was last year, so we’re on a rapid growth phase right now,” said Dr. Linda Chen with Memorial Health. “So a living donor is really the Rolls Royce of transplants, it has immediate graft function, better short and long-term outcomes, and it’s really the way in which a transplant can grow.”
For Morgan, it is the simple things that she does not take for granted.
“With dialysis, you’re trained to just take little sips, and now six bottles a day is amazing in itself,” said Morgan. “That is amazing in itself.”
“This is a lady who has a great story of resilience and of love and hope,” said Chen.
And just when Morgan had gotten out of the holiday spirit, this new lease on life has given her a sure reason to smile and keep pushing forward.
“I even decorated the house for Christmas,” said Morgan. “I wasn’t going to do any of that, but now I’m so grateful for my kidney. I’m not going to pollute with any bad food. I’m really into my new kidney.”
The transplant between Morgan and her son marked the 100th transplant at the hospital.
To find out how you can become a living donor, click here.
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