{"id":955140,"date":"2026-07-24T00:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/955140\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T00:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:52:14","slug":"thank-you-for-saving-my-life-san-antonio-man-reunites-with-transplant-doctor-who-donated-kidney-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/955140\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Thank you for saving my life\u2019: San Antonio man reunites with transplant doctor who donated kidney in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO <\/strong> \u2013 It was a reunion full of gratitude between a San Antonio transplant doctor and the man she donated a kidney to back in 2021.<\/p>\n

Joel Gonzalez surprised Dr. Kelley Hitchman on Monday at her lab for what he called their fifth \u201ckidney anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n

KSAT has been reporting on the transplant pair for years now, including Hitchman\u2019s journey to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro<\/a> after the successful transplant to spread awareness about living donors and show people the healthy life a donor can still live. <\/p>\n

KSAT also spoke with Gonzalez<\/a> about how he is now thriving, and the importance of living donors. <\/p>\n

This week, he coordinated with family and staff to surprise Hitchman with a gift and flowers. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for saving my life,\u201d he said during the reunion hug caught on camera. <\/p>\n

Hitchman, who leads University Health\u2019s Transplant Institute, saw how her patients struggled, which is why she decided to become a living donor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s his kidney. Clearly, it was always meant for him, so I am always so grateful to see him and grateful for his friendship,\u201d Hitchman told KSAT after the reunion. <\/p>\n

Gonzalez is working full time, supporting other transplant patients and getting to be a husband, dad and grandfather. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been through so much, and he\u2019s one of the most positive people, the most optimistic people I think I\u2019ve ever met,\u201d Hitchman said. \u201cI think we could all learn something from a Joel, from having a Joel in our lives,\u201d <\/p>\n

Hitchman said their story is proof of how crucial living donors are.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are about 6,000 to 7,000 people in the United States every year that make this choice to say \u2018yes\u2019 to kidney donation, and that\u2019s wonderful,\u201d she said. \u201cBut there are about 109,000 or 110,000 people waiting on our list right now. And the majority of those are waiting for a kidney.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wait time for the deceased donor transplant list is five to seven years. Hitchman said transplants are far more successful when they come from living donors.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro two years ago \u2014 to show people how safe and fulfilling it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy healing was really very straightforward. I\u2019m just as healthy, if not healthier,\u201d Hitchman said. \u201cIt\u2019s a safe thing to do and more people are needed to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hopes more people will be inspired to sign up and give people like Gonzalez a true second chance at life. <\/p>\n

Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a living donor can visit University Health\u2019s Transplant Institute website, which has a page for living donors<\/a>. <\/p>\n

More coverage of this story on KSAT:<\/b><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 It was a reunion full of gratitude between a San Antonio transplant doctor and the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":955141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,57586,86450,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,384311,68,2969,229812],"class_list":["post-955140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-kidney-transplant","tag-organ-donation","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-university-health-transplant-institute","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-we-follow-through"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/955141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}