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STATUS:
Received! Living Kidney Donor 2022
Van served for 10 years active duty in the Navy and 16 years in the Reserves. After 26 years of service, he continued to protect our country as an Intelligence Specialist under many contracts.
Van recently retired, but because of his kidney disease he was reliant on daily dialysis to survive. The best hope for Van was to get a kidney transplant. However, in California he was told the wait for a deceased donor kidney would be 10 years.
Because of DOVE and the desire of many from our communities who want to help a Veteran in need - Van received a living donor kidney transplant on May 26th 2022. Van met his kidney donor (Kelly) the night before surgery. They now consider each other family and are forever connected. Kelly shared this "The has impacted me more than I could imagine. My sister and I adore Van and his wife and we now have an extended family. I wish I had another kidney because I would do it all again."
There are at least 2000 Veterans who are waiting for a life saving kidney transplant in the United States. To learn more about helping Veterans like Van, please contact DOVE.
Giovanni (Van) Echon
Navy Veteran // Chief Petty Officer, Intelligence Specialist
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