Family Full Of Hope As Sister Donates Kidney

Ups and down are part of our lives. What matters is how we face them to successfully overcome situations that are not under our control.
When it comes to the thought of losing a loved one, some are paralyzed by fear, others take action.
A year after learning that her father needed a kidney transplant, Sandra Romero of Corona decided to fight destiny by donating one of her kidneys to her father, Daniel.
Sandra, 25, and her sister Maria, 22, and their cousin, went for testing to see if any was a match with Daniel’s kidney.
Daniel, 56, was diagnosed with Diabetes Type Two 15 years ago. But a year ago his health began to deteriorate. He began having trouble walking and breathing. Doctors found that neither of his kidneys was functioning and the only two choices that he had were blood dialysis or a transplant.
Dialysis was not the best option for Daniel, who thought that this was not a way to live. In the same period of time he suffered a heart attack, which made his situation more difficult.
Sandra said that during the past year, her father’s emotional state was bad. “All my family has united to support him because his illness changed his lifestyle. He used to manage his restaurant, but in the past year he has barely gone,” said Sandra.
Since he was very depressed and unable to work, Sandra’s mother left her job and started working at the restaurant, along with Maria. Sandra, who just graduated from John Jay College with a Bachelor’s in Psychology, changed her schedule so she could take care of her father in the afternoons.
The transplant is scheduled for August, and the entire family is looking forward to getting Daniel back in good health.
Maria said, “I feel fortunate that my sister can do this. Not everyone has this luck.”
Daniel is a father of four who arrived in the United States from Ecuador when he was 14 years old. According to Sandra and Maria, he is a great man who took care of the children while their mother worked during the day. “He has been a guide for us; he taught us everything, even the girls’ things,” said Sandra.
I just hope that he can be the same lovely man that he has always been. I want him to be able to run, play and smile,” Sandra said.
Today Daniel is fully optimistic. However he is scared for the health of his daughter Sandra. “He keeps asking the doctor if I will have pain with this procedure,” Sandra says, adding that this was her decision. “I am very happy doing this and as soon as this is over, we will give him a great big welcome home.”
elcorreo@queenscourier.com