Celebrations: Windsor woman saves stranger’s life through kidney donation

PRESS DEMOCRAT |  Susie Rodriguez

Lorene Romero donated one of her kidneys to a complete stranger after failing to match the intended recipient, a friend's husband. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)

Since human beings possess two kidneys but can lead a completely normal life with only one, it’s possible and maybe even likely that you might donate one of your kidneys to save a loved one or a friend. But would you do so for a complete stranger?

That’s what Windsor resident Lorene Romero did nearly two years ago. On the day before Christmas 2014, her kidney was removed in a surgical procedure at UCSF Medical Center for transplant into the body of someone she had never met and knew nothing about.

“My kidney was part of a chain,” she said. “It was flown to Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Maryland, where it was transplanted into a recipient who remains unknown to me. That person, whoever it is, had a friend who donated a kidney in their name; it went to a recipient at UCLA Hospital. There were more recipients and donors in the chain, but that’s all I’m allowed to know.

“I never had any hesitation about doing this. It just felt like the right thing to do. And it was,” she said. Continue reading

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