Ricardo Ortega

Type of Donation:       Kidney Recipient

Age and Location:      

Donation Date:           April

Sponsor:                      Honored by OneLegacy

RICARDO’S STORY

Ricardo has always been a hardworking man. Always providing for his wife and three children, he never complained about anything. Ricardo’s health started deteriorating, and by the time he found out he had kidney disease, his kidney function was down to 7%. It was scary for him and for all of his family. It took him a while to come to terms with the fact that he needed to do dialysis, because he couldn’t be placed on the transplant list without it. Luckily, Ricardo has six siblings, and they all tested to see if they were a match for him, so they could donate one of their kidneys to save Ricardo’s life. Ricardo’s three sisters got tested first, and Yadira was a perfect match with 12 out of 12 of the markers they check for kidney donation being a match. Yadira’s sisters were also a match, but Yadira was the best match, and she became Ricardo’s living donor.

Yadira and Ricardo participated in a stem-cell research led by UCLA and funded by OneLegacy to transplant not only a kidney from a living donor onto a recipient, but also stem cells to “trick” Ricardo’s body into thinking that the kidney was never transplanted onto another person, with the goal that eventually the transplant recipient would not need anti-rejection medication. The transplant was successful, and Ricardo is doing great. Thanks to his transplant, Ricardo can now go to the gym. He’s coaching his son’s soccer team. And as of April 2022, he’s off of all anti-rejection medications.