Rose Valenzuela and Vitaliano Salera were crowned homecoming princess and prince at Santa Ana Valley High School more than 40 years ago
“I think he started crying and I started crying. It’s a match. I’m like, there’s no way!” said Valenzuela.
The two underwent surgery a few weeks ago at Keck Medicine of USC, NBC4 reported, and both have been recovering from the transplant. “To give a kidney to somebody so they can hold their wife’s hand a little bit longer or see their granddaughter grow up to be a young woman, that’s what she did for me,” Salera said. “Everybody talks about having a purpose and most people never really reach that, but I think with Rose and myself, through this experience, we found that purpose and not just to help each other out, but hopefully we can inspire other people to help one another.
Dr. Jim Kim, a transplant surgeon at Keck, told NBC4 that he didn’t know the history between Valenzuela and Salera until“All living donor stories are fascinating and wonderful and we can’t do this without them,” he said. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the demand for organs exceeds the supply — with more than 120,000 people in the nation currently waiting to receive a life-giving organ transplant.awaiting kidneysValensuela told NBC4 she was inspired to volunteer to become a living organ donor following the death of a relative. She said of giving her kidney to Salera, “I got something out of it as much as he did.
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