USA: A (Kidney) Match Made in Heaven

First comes love, then comes marriage, and then comes a life-saving kidney transplant.

Hardly your typical romance story, but it’s certainly one with a heartwarming ending: since he was 17, Reid Alexander of Denver, Colorado, had been suffering Alport syndrome that had caused his kidneys to function at only 20%.

Not letting his condition hinder him, the 24-year-old decided last year to join the dating app, Tinder. There, he met 28-year-old Rafael Diaz.

Speaking to a US media outlet recently, Alexander gushed: “We really just hit it off … It felt like we knew each other for a really long time. And it still feels like that to us.”

After being informed about his new love’s condition, Diaz – a registered organ donor – began investigating if they would be viable kidney donor matches. Fortunately, they were!

In April this year, the couple were married in a small, intimate ceremony; four months later, they pooled their resources to undergo a successful transplant procedure at the Indiana University Health Hospital.

Diaz said: “I was in a lot of pain. But if I had to do it again, I would. It’s not only because I love [Reid] so much, but it’s also because I will be able to share life [with him] and enjoy this feeling that made [him] happy.”

Alexander added: “[Rafael] made the ultimate sacrifice. He gave me an organ so that I can live a better life [and] be healthy. And that’s just so amazing.”

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