Kidney donation bonds lifelong high school friends in Orange County
By David Gonzalez
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GARDEN GROVE, California (KABC) — Vy Tran has always had a sense of adventure. He’s had the opportunity to travel around the world. However, that all came to a screeching halt five years ago when he was diagnosed with End-stage Renal Disease.
“They tested and they just said your kidneys are failing and you need to start dialysis now,” Tran said.
Tran had been in search of a kidney donor with no luck. A couple of months ago, Tran reconnected with an old Aliso Niguel High School friend, Shawn Rockenbach. The two became close on a senior class trip to Europe.
“We spent a lot of time together in our early 20s,” Tran said. “We lost touch for almost a decade actually. Life just kind of gets in the way of things.”
Little did Tran know Rockenbach became aware of his health problems a year ago and secretly spent that time getting tested to see if he could be a donor.
“I didn’t tell anybody because I didn’t want to get Vy’s hopes up or anybody else’s hopes up until I knew more,” said Rockenbach.
The pair recently found out they were a match.
“I’m very blessed with the opportunity to donate directly to my friend, which is amazing but I think in the ultimate picture doing some good in the world, everybody can do it and it’s an incredible feeling,” Rockenbach said.
Their kidney transplant surgery is scheduled for February 11, just days before Tran’s 39th birthday.
“It’s quite literally a rebirth of my life,” Tran said. “And then all of a sudden I’m going to have a new pass. A new lease at it. It’s crazy because I never thought it was going to happen.”
Tran and Rockenbach initially bonded through their love of travel. Now they’ll be forever bonded through the gift of life.
“There’s no word in any language in the world that can convey how grateful I am for this. This is literally a new life for me,” said Tran.
After the surgery, Tran hopes to start up his travels around the world.
In the meantime, he has set up a GoFundMe page to help him with medical expenses.
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