The University Hospital in Salt Lake City performed its first kidney transplant in 1965. Just five years later, Eloy donated one of his kidneys to his brother Fred.
In 1969, gas was about 35 cents per gallon, the average cost of a new home was $23,450, and transplantation was still in its infancy; there was no national waiting list and hospitals were only able to transplant patients if they had a possible donor at that hospital or a family member was willing to be a living donor. Despite all this, Eloy offered to donate one of his kidneys to Fred whose kidneys were beginning to fail. He was told that he needed to be at least 21 to donate, so Eloy, who had just returned home after a tour of duty during the Vietnam War, would have to wait to help his brother.
Eloy turned 21 in the spring of 1970. He was recently married and looking for a stable job. However, when he told prospective employers he planned to donate a kidney to his brother, he was often turned away. He finally found a job with Hercules Aerospace Inc. who decided to take a chance on the young man and offered him a job. After just two months on the job, Eloy knew his brother couldn’t wait much longer for a kidney, so he took a leave of absence and donated his kidney.
“Fred was feeling great and out of bed the next day,” Eloy says. “Me. I couldn’t even get out of bed by myself for a week.” While the initial healing process was difficult, both men fully recovered and they both went on to have families and live full lives.
It has now been 42 years since Fred received a kidney from Eloy and that kidney continues to function well.
