Man travels 7,500 miles to give his cousin a kidney
A son fulfilled his father's promise 20 years later and saved his cousin's life.
Bianca Santos and her family moved from the Philippines to the United States at the age of 10 when she was having medical problems with her kidneys. Two years ago, at the age of 29, Bianca was told she needed a kidney transplant.
Unfortunately, her parents were not a match to be kidney donors and it could be years before she matched with one. Instead of waiting, her parents reached out to family in the U.S. as well as the Philippines.
But things finally changed for the better when her cousin Paulo Pono got the news. He remembered a promise his father had made to his cousin when they were younger, promising her that if ever she needed it, he would donate a kidney. Sadly, his dad died 20 years ago. Paulo decided he would carry out his father's promise.
Paulo travelled 7,500 miles from the Philippines to California to be Bianca’s donor. In May 2017, the two cousins underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery.