HOUSTON — A Houston father is more than grateful to be celebrating this Father's Day after his daughter gave him the gift of a lifetime.
Gregorio Zamarrón is 63 and has four kids and 12 grandchildren. He has lived a lot.
But, 20 years ago, kidney disease started taking his life away.
"I really didn't comprehend how serious it was until he started dialysis," Nancy Valdivia said.
Nancy is his daughter. Zamarrón spent 3.5 years on a transplant list. He even got a new kidney, but he knew it wouldn't last.
Ten years later, the same kidney disease was taking a toll on the new organ. He was once again placed on dialysis.
"Dialysis ... that makes the people feel like it's a sentence ... a sentence of death," Zamarrón said.
Nancy couldn't stand watching him suffer. She asked him for years to let her give him her kidney. But, being a stubborn father, he always said no.
"He refused it saying there was no way he would take my kidney. I have two young daughters," she said.
He wasn't worried about himself, just like any father would be, he was worried about her.
"If I accept it, the only one I worry about is you, not me," he said.
But, like father, like daughter. Nancy had the stubborn bone, too. She couldn't stand watching him fade, so she went to see if she was a match. Of course, she didn't tell her father.
"I didn't want to be discouraged by his nos," Nancy said.
The day she found out she was a match, she told him.
"He was the first person I went to because I was just so desperate for him to say yes to life," she said. "It is your decision. It is your choice if you want to accept this gift or not. I want you to."
He took his time, but he finally changed his mind -- for his grandchildren.
They had their surgery in February at Memorial Hermann. Nowadays, even if your donor isn't a match, there are programs that allow them to still donate.
"The kidneys can be exchanged between incompatible pairs where everyone benefits from transplantation," UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Chief of Transplant Nephrology Dr. Hassan Ibrahim said.
With a new kidney, Gregorio is back with his life full of Father's Days.
"Giving it to him ... only he gave me a lot more," Nancy said.
To learn more about organ donation, click here.