In Hospital Honeymoon, Bride to Donate Kidney to Diabetic Groom
On Tuesday, Victoria Ingram and Randall Curlee will wed. On Wednesday, she plans to give him a kidney.
Curlee, 46, a diabetic, learned he needed a transplant after the Mission Viejo couple became engaged in February. When he made an appointment with a transplant specialist, he brought Ingram.
“I said, ‘We’re getting married, and I want you to know what the future could be like,’ ” Curlee recalled.
Dr. Robert Mendez, who directs the kidney team at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, outlined the daunting prospects to the couple. About 36,000 people are on the waiting list for kidneys, and only about 4,000 kidneys become available each year.
Most kidney transplants come from cadavers, and most live transplants come from blood relatives, but Curlee’s relatives were not compatible. As good luck would have it, though, Ingram’s kidneys were .
“Victoria is someone who is totally unselfish, and 100% behind me because she wants me to be around,” Curlee said. “She’s incredible.”
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