SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A San Diego soccer player is living out his dreams, two years after getting a kidney transplant. Now, his journey is inspiring others facing similar challenges.
ABC 10News first told you about Richi Rodrigues last fall when he was preparing to play for Team USA in the Transplant World Cup. That experience gave him a new appreciation for what his life could be like after a transplant.
"I saw what other people could do with transplants. Not just kidney transplants, but heart transplants, lung transplants... To see the amazing things they could do with their body physically, yeah, it just inspired me to push myself and do what they could do. Not to set limits on myself because of my condition," Richi said.
While he didn't get a medal, he realized he could also be an inspiration to others.
This month, Richi got a chance to give back. He and his brother Jerry, who donated the kidney that saved Richi's life, got to spend a day with San Diego FC players visiting Sharp Memorial Hospital — a thrill for a couple of soccer fanatics.
"I was just fascinated with their lifestyle. I was fascinated with what they thought of San Diego," Jerry said.
They even got their own SDFC jerseys. It was also the first time they'd been back on the transplant floor at Sharp since their surgery in 2023.
"Walking down the hallways brought back a lot of memories and a lot of emotions. I saw what people were going through, and I can't believe that we went through that," Richi said.
While visiting the hospital, Richi met with a fellow transplant patient who's also a big soccer fan. He told her about his experience at the Transplant World Cup and how it showed him what's possible.
Now both brothers have a message for anyone going through what they did.
"As a donor, I'd say don't miss out on the opportunity of getting tested. If your heart's in the right place, get tested," Jerry said.
"Stay positive. It's going to be hard. It's gonna be hard. But stay positive," Richi says to anyone waiting for, or trying to recover from, a transplant.
Richi added that his recovery is going so well, he's already training to play in the 2026 Transplant World Cup.
For more information about Sharp Healthcare's Organ Transplant program, click here.
