I would like to share something with everyone that I think you will all appreciate. This is the story: I’m originally from El Salvador. At the age of 5 months, on May 8, 1980, I was adopted by two loving parents from the United States.

During those first 5 months that I was in El Salvador, the country was going through its own Civil War. The orphanage that I was in didn’t have the necessities an infant needs to be properly taken care of. Therefore, my parents were sending money down to them so I could get that care. Unfortunately, the money was being used towards weapons for underground criminals.

When my parents arrived to take me to my new home, I was very malnourished. I was very sick with various illnesses throughout my childhood because of this. My Mom was taking me to doctors’ appointments because of everything from ear infections to strep throat. I even needed to be hospitalized for asthma. Not much was known about asthma back then, so many doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. My Mom would spend the day at the hospital with me and my Dad would come to the hospital at night. Every night they would sit in my hospital room while I slept.

In 1985, my Mom found out that she was suffering from diabetes and needed to be on insulin. Twenty-four years later, she found out that her kidneys were failing due to the aforementioned reason. She needed a kidney transplant. Immediately, I told my Dad that I would be willing to donate my kidney to her. My parents, being the loving parents that they are, didn’t want me to go through a procedure like that.

Blood relatives offered to donate their kidney, but couldn’t because of their own various illnesses. I kept on pursuing to be tested in order to find out if I would be an organ and tissue match for my Mom. From July of 2009 to September of 2009, my Mom and I were going through many tests to see if this would be the case. In October of 2009, we….as a family learned that my Mom and I were a perfect tissue and organ match. On Monday, October 12, 2009, we had the surgery. It was a complete success! The doctor said that the surgery went very well and that there were no complications!

It has been over a year now, and the kidney is working very well! I like to tell everyone this story, not because my family and friends think I’m a hero, (I actually think G-d did all the work….I just volunteered) but because I want people to know that miracles do happen! Many people are proof of this! Around the time that this was happening, my Dad emailed our local news station (without my Mom’s or my knowledge at first. Here are the videos:

 

 

 

I hope everyone enjoys and appreciates the story and videos…..just as my family/friends and I have!

 

Sincerely,

Jonathan Scott Swartz

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