Within the span of roughly a 12 months, Reid Alexander and Rafael Díaz met and obtained married – and Díaz donated a kidney to his new husband.
Alexander advised USA TODAY that he and Díaz matched on a courting app in August 2020 in Colorado. However Alexander quickly advised him about his Alport syndrome, a genetic disease that causes damage to blood vessels in the kidneys, amongst different signs.
“I defined to him what was happening with my kidneys and every thing as a result of he actually preferred to cook dinner, and I actually preferred to cook dinner,” Alexander mentioned. “So we might cook dinner collectively, however I needed to inform him to not put an excessive amount of salt on my meals as a result of I wasn’t allowed to have salt.”
In September 2020, simply weeks after they began courting, Alexander needed to have surgical procedure to put together for dialysis.
Díaz stepped in to assist as Alexander recovered.
“He stayed on the hospital for me and drove me house and every thing,” Alexander mentioned. “He’s the primary particular person to ever get me flowers, so, yeah, I sort of knew he was the one.”
The couple was engaged in February and married in April. Alexander and Díaz stored their marriage ceremony ceremony small to be able to pay for the surgical procedures, however they plan to have a bigger bash in a 12 months or two.
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Simply after their marriage ceremony, Díaz formally started testing to find out if he may be Alexander’s kidney donor, and the outcomes confirmed he was a match.
Although their hospital in Colorado first advised the couple that they might not have the ability to carry out the surgical procedure, they pursued medical doctors in Indiana, the place Alexander is from.
In early June, two surgeons and a nephrologist from IU Well being advised the couple that they had been assured within the surgical procedure. The surgical procedures had been carried out in August, and Alexander and Díaz advised USA TODAY that they’re each recovering properly.
Among the many roughly 6,000 residing donor transplants within the U.S. annually, practically 800 are from a companion or partner, CNN reported.
Alexander mentioned it’s “loopy how briskly I really feel like I’ve recovered,” although he nonetheless has some limitations. Díaz mentioned he’s pleased to see his husband enhance.
“I’m simply so glad,” he mentioned. “I’m so glad to see Reid all day and see how good he’s doing.”
Díaz known as it “superb” that individuals will be organ donors and “change the life of 1 particular person.”
“It was the perfect expertise in our life,” Díaz mentioned, noting that he would do it another time if given the possibility. “It’s simply unimaginable.”
