A North Texas woman is going to the National Kidney Foundation's Transplant Games for the first time, rolling for gold in the bowling competition.
Angie Rodriguez said she wouldn't be there if not for her co-worker Brandon Mason.
Rodriguez and Mason work together at Baylor Transplant's Finance Unit. In December 2007, he donated a kidney to her.
"Sometimes I think, 'Oh woe is me. Look at all these drugs I have to take. Look at all this weight that I've gained.' You know, sometimes I get down about that," Rodriguez said. "But on the other hand, a lot of people tell me, you're alive. And I would not be alive if it weren't for Brandon."
Mason said their relationship was mostly a business one before he learned that Rodriguez needed a kidney. But now they are close friends.
"It really brought the relationship to a whole new level," he said. "There's no way to explain what you get by doing that for someone."
"I just had this feeling there was something there and maybe I could help, maybe I could keep this person around who I always watched do so much for others," he said.
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He said finding out he was a match for Rodriguez was both scary and amazing.
Rodriguez said Mason has become a member of her family.
"I just consider him the son I never had," she said.
The National Kidney Foundation U.S. Transplant Games are held every two years. They are designed to unite thousands of people who've been touched by organ donation.
The games begin July 30 in Wisconsin.
