HCA Healthcare
April 15, 2019

SOURCE: El Paso Times

AUTHOR: Mark R Lambie

Maria Dolores Rangel, 48, was the recipient of the 200th kidney transplant at the Las Palmas Kidney Transplant Center. She is thankful for the gift of a new life. (Photo: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times)

Maria Dolores Rangel on Friday celebrated the new life she received through a kidney transplant.

The 48-year-old mother of four and grandmother of six was the recipient of the 200th kidney transplant at Las Palmas Kidney Transplant Center.

She first discovered her kidney was failing after visiting the emergency room because she was tired and swollen.

"I felt tired; I couldn't take care of my youngest son like I did before," she said. Her youngest son has autism.

Rangel said she was told her kidney was functioning at 5 percent efficiency. After a month, doctors and other health care professionals had improved its function to 17 percent.

She remained on dialysis for almost 10 years before getting on the transplant list.

A short two weeks later, she was notified that a kidney was available, but her antibodies were too high to perform the transplant. A second kidney wasn't viable, and Rangel began to lose faith.

But she knew the third would be the charm. "The third will be blessed," she said.

Dr. Hector Diaz Luna performed the surgery on Sept. 28, 2018. And that is something she will always be grateful for.

"He is love; he is an angel," Rangel said of Diaz Luna. "He gave me a new life."

Maria Dolores Rangel, 48, was the recipient of the 200th kidney transplant at the Las Palmas Kidney Transplant Center. Of Dr. Hector Diaz Luna, who performed the surgery on Sept. 28, 2018, she says. "He is love; he is an angel. He gave me a new life." (Photo: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times)

April is National Donate Life Month, and Las Palmas Kidney Transplant Center is celebrating 10 years of successful kidney transplants in over 200 patients in the El Paso community.

Las Palmas Medical Center officials said in a news release that nationally, 8,000 people die every year because organs are not donated in time, and 82 percent of patients in need of a transplant are waiting for a kidney.

Friday was National Donate Life Blue & Green Day, which helps raise awareness of the opportunity to save lives by donating organs and tissue. It also celebrates those who have received second chances and honors the sacrifices of those who have made the donations.

One organ donor can save eight lives, the Children’s Organ Transplant Association said in a news release.

Texans can learn more and register to donate at their local Department of Public Safety office when applying for or renewing a driver's license or identification card, or they can enroll online at donatelifetexas.org or donevidatexas.org.