Son donates kidney, saves mother’s life

NBC Latino | Kevin Lu, KVEO
Rosa Olivares is happy to be alive.

Her kidneys gave out earlier this year and her son Felipe stepped up and donated one of his.

“They said I was a perfect match, so I said ‘okay, let’s do it,’” Felipe Olivares said about donating a kidney to his mother.

Felipe had to take two months off from his job as a Cameron County detention officer for the procedure and recovery. His mother Rosa is grateful to see another day and for her son’s sacrifice.

“Now I feel good, happy, because I’m alive,” Rosa said in Spanish. ”It hurt, it hurt to see him there, very hard.”

It all worked out fine because Felipe was a great fit. A kidney going from the 170-lb. officer to the 130-lb home provider is the ideal pairing, especially when they’re direct relatives.

“Rosa received a kidney from her son who’s a male, and a big person, muscular person, and so that kidney is really the perfect kidney,” said Dr. Mourad Alsabbagh, who oversaw the Olivares’ procedure and recovery.



______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor TODAY
In California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

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