At age 40, Mina Gonzalez was enjoying her family life when severe hypertension led to a three-month hospital stay. Eventually placed on the kidney transplant waiting list, her hope began to fade away. In February 1998, thanks to the generosity of her donor’s grieving family, her life began again. Since then, she has kept her promise to honor her donor by inspiring the community to donate life and educating kidney patients.

Mina's Story

At age 40, Mina Gonzalez was enjoying her family life just as any wife and mother would. While attending ballgames with her husband and two young boys, she never dreamt that she was suffering from a silent killer: hypertension.

In January 1992, Mina was admitted to the hospital with extremely high blood pressure. Initially, she was told that she would be there for three days. But those three days turned into a three-month stay as complications arose, including kidney damage. She began dialysis shortly after she was released and was stable for two years.

“During the next four years, I suffered with every medical complication imaginable and had been through every form of treatment,” said Mina, who was placed on the kidney transplant waiting list. “My hope began to fade away, not knowing if I would survive another day.”

In February 1998, expecting to die before a kidney could be found, Mina received the most important phone call of her life from UCLA Medical Center. “They told me they had a perfect match for me,” she said. “Thanks to the generosity of my donor’s grieving family, despite their loss, my life began again. It was on that day that I promised my donor that his life was not going to be in vain. From that day until the present, I have kept my promise to dedicate my life to educating others about the importance of organ donation.”

In 2000, Mina began volunteering with the American Association of Kidney Patients, serving as vice president. In 2005, she became a volunteer Donate Life Ambassador for OneLegacy, the organ and tissue recovery organization serving the greater Los Angeles area. Currently, she works as a peer educator at the Mendez National Institute of Transplantation. She feels strongly that “the love and appreciation that I have for what was given to me is passed through my volunteering and my current employment.”