Lauren Magallanes was born on Father’s Day, and has always been a “daddy’s girl.” So when her father’s kidneys began to fail, she knew she had to help.
“Me and my sister decided that if we could make a change, if we could make a difference, to give him a better life to live, so that he doesn’t have to worry about hooking up to a machine,” Lauren said. “It was for the best.”
Lauren and her family said they were watching their father Richard’s condition deteriorate, after 24 years of Type II diabetes and then dialysis. On a family vacation, the siblings got together to figure out what was next.
“Seeing him have to leave family reunions, not be able to stay out with us on the beach, to not be able to get into the water with us,” Lauren described.
They began to research how to become living kidney donors. Lauren went to get checked out first and “got lucky” as a match.
Her father, Richard, said he had no idea what they were planning.
“It was the hardest decision to accept, knowing they were giving me a gift I could never repay,” Richard said.
After his transplant operation at Baylor Scott & White in Fort Worth, the father-daughter pair were able to recover quickly, with the help of the Baylor Healthcare Systems Outreach Clinic in Lubbock.
“My quality of life has changed, I’m no longer dependent on a dialysis machine to keep me going,” Richard said.
On Wednesday, Lauren and her dad told their story at Baylor Scott & White, to help promote Donate Life Month and raise awareness for organ donation.
“It was just a small sacrifice,” Lauren said, encouraging people to consider becoming an organ donor. “It makes a difference in the person that’s receiving it, and it’s worth it.”
CLICK HERE for information on National Donate Life Month.
CLICK HERE for information on LifeGift, the organization honoring Lauren and Richard at Baylor Scott & White Health on Wednesday.
