Dialysis Machine Repairman Gets Long-Awaited Kidney Transplant

Dialysis Machine Repairman Gets Long-Awaited Kidney Transplant
Hema Mullur-KFOX News Anchor/Reporter
Posted: 5:41 pm MDT June 30, 2011
Updated: 7:26 pm MDT June 30, 2011

EL PASO, Texas -- In March 2010, KFOX14 brought you the story of a man in a unique situation. Juan Pena’s job is fixing dialysis machines, but he never thought that one day he'd end up having to use one. These days, Pena can't even make it into work. But now, it’s not because he’s sick -- it's because he's recovering from a kidney transplant.
“I feel great; I feel very healthy,” Pena said.
Pena had the kidney transplant on May 19. He called it a precious gift from his niece.
“I had lost hope,” Pena said. “And all of the sudden my niece called me -- she lives in Ruidoso, N.M. -- and she said that she had been thinking about giving me a kidney because she felt that God had talked to her.”
Today, he’s feeling much better. And unlike most people who have been on dialysis, who probably never want to see a machine again, Pena is getting restless.
“My energy level is high, so I wake up really wanting to do things and wanting to really go to work,” he said.
And every time he sees his niece, he said he can't thank her enough for saving his life.
“I wake up with energy, I wake up wanting to do things, and it's very different,” Pena said. “They call it the gift of life and it is the gift of life, because it changes your life.”
You can learn more about organ donation, and sign up to become a donor yourself, by clicking on the Donate Life section under our Health tab.
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