SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – 14 kidney and liver transplant recipients came back to Rady Children’s Hospital to ring the ceremonial bell following their lifesaving organ transplants in 2025.
“The reality is being tied to a machine for dialysis every day. It's difficult. The families, the stress, not feeling well, never feeling 100%, having dietary restrictions, and then to get this life-saving organ where they can live a life,” Dr. Elizabeth Ingulli from Rady Children’s Hospital said.
The bell is dubbed the “Transplant Bell” at the hospital for recipients to ring in their new life with their new organ. One of those who rang the bell on Tuesday afternoon was Sayde Valles.
“I went through a lot of like difficulties with just my kidney once I was, when I was born,” Sayde Valles, a kidney transplant patient at Rady Children’s, said. “I got my second transplant now, this last August of 2025. And I mean, I'm still going through, you know, some ups and downs, but I'm very thankful to be where I am.”
“They are the most resilient kids you've ever met on the planet, and for them to be happy and smiling when some of these kids have lived with kidney failure all of their life, it's so heartwarming and so amazing,” Ingulli said.
It’s a Tuesday in April, reminding these families of a day they’ll never forget. Also, it’s a chance to remind others how important organ donation can be for other families.
“I really would like those that are maybe thinking about possibly being an organ donor, investigate, get all the information that you need to get,” Ingulli said.
“There's so many lives you can save, and specially to me especially when it's children, you know, like they have so much more to live, and it's such a small but big way of helping,” Michelle Menendez, Valles’ mother, said.
