BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Rochelle Vaughan has been volunteering with JJ's Legacy since 2011, before and after she received a new kidney from her husband. It's a way to repay the Kindness.
- 22,000 people in CA are on an organ transplant waiting list.
- 84% of those people need a kidney.
- 1 person can save 8 lives while enhancing 75 others through organ, eye ,and tissue donations.
- 22 patients die every day waiting for an organ.
- Approx. 98 transplants take place every day, more than 36,000 people a year.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
JJ's Legacy is marking its 15th anniversary this year. The local non-profit known for its little Pink Dot has elevated awareness of organ donations and transplants to a new level. Hundreds of people have volunteered to help this venture over the years including Rochelle Vaughan, who then found herself on the receiving end of a new kidney.
"You have to take the good with the bad, or the bad with the good, that's better," Rochelle Vaughan said with a laugh. She was 27 years old, pregnant with her son, when she was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease that impacted her kidneys.
"The stress of the pregnancy ended up attacking my kidneys," said Vaughan, "they said they would only last two years, well, they lasted 18 years."
Rochelle monitored her kidneys during that time and continued with her life, and in 2011, started volunteering for her friend Lori Malkin at JJ's Legacy.
"She asked me to get involved, so I was taking medicine and I did some light volunteering," said Vaughan, "My doctor told me at the time, I wasn't at risk and probably didn't need a transplant."
In 2015, everything changed. She went into kidney failure the month her son graduated from high school and began emergency dialysis. Doctors put a fistula in her arm four weeks later, and she still has it today. And through her work with JJ's Legacy, she thought she'd have a new kidney in a couple of months.
"The doctors at Cedar Sinai said it would take 10-13 years to get a kidney and the life expectancy on dialysis is five years," said Vaughan.
Enter her husband Jeff, who doctors determined was a match, from an organ standpoint. A living donor who was ready to go.
"His kidney was fabulous, he took pictures of it, and doctors said it was bigger than they thought," said Vaughan, "they said they were going to tell him that I got the 'better' one."
That was nine years ago and she hasn't slowed down since.
"I wanted to get out there and educate people, hit the ground running by speaking at events and doing whatever I could to help," said Vaughan.
And she plans to do whatever she has to in order to repay her husband's kindness and keep his gift for as long as possible. JJ's Legacy is keeping busy as the non-profit of the night for the Condors on March 14th, then the Walk-A-Thon at CSUB on March 22nd, and finally the Gala and Golf Tournament on April 24th and 25th.
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