Kidney donor, recipient meet for 1st time at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- There was an emotional reunion this week as one man met the person responsible for a lifesaving gift.

Exactly a year ago Thursday, 49-year-old Juan Morales received a lifesaving kidney donation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. On Thursday, he finally met Mark Dondick, the man who gave him this altruistic gift.

"His kindness benefited me, so I don't have a lot of words for him but thank you very much," said Morales.

"I didn't realize he's younger than me," said Dondick. "I think he looks better than me. I think he looks healthier than me."

Dondick is what doctors call a good Samaritan donor. He made his kidney available to anyone who needed it.

"Altruistic or what I call good Samaritan donors are very important, and certainly we feel like it helps so many people," said Dr. Stanley Jordan.

Dondick, a Harbor City executive who works at Honda, is a pretty analytical guy who logically thought I have two kidneys, it would be a shame to waste one.

"The more I looked into it, the smaller it became, and ultimately I got back so much more than I gave out of it," said Dondick.

For years, Morales, a construction worker from Los Angeles, suffered from polycystic kidney disease. The inherited kidney condition affects half of his family. Already, two of his nine grandchildren have been diagnosed.

Meeting someone as generous as Dondick gives Morales hope for the rest of his family.

"What it did is an act of love for humanity," said Morales. "If we had more persons like him in this world, this world would be a lot different."

"So many people there that all care about Juan, and I really feel welcomed to his family," said Dondick. "It's a really good feeling."

Both say they hope their story will encourage others to donate organs, and for those patients still waiting, their message is: don't give up hope.