A man is about to get a life saving kidney transplant, made possible by his brother. But there is a hitch that brother is facing deportation. Vikki Vargas reports for the NBC4 News on Friday, May 19, 2017.
Puthy Hak needs a new kidney, but the road to a transplant has been a rollercoaster ride.
He says there are days he has no energy, no appetite. Hak has been on dialysis three times a week since 2011, waiting and wondering if a donor would ever be found.
But he’s hoping to put those days behind him as he gets closer to getting the needed transplant. A match has been found, and surgery is scheduled at University of California, San Diego.
"I'm kinda so excited don't have to go three days a week any more," he says.
But there is some difficult news among the good.
His brother, Touch Hak, was willing to give his kidney to save his brother. But the two were not a blood type match. So they turned to “A Pair Exchange,” an organization that coordinates a pool of donors. Touch Hak’s kidney will save another life and Puthy will receive one that matches.
Both surgeries are scheduled for next month.
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In January, Puthy's wife lost her job of 25 years due to relocation and their main health insurance went with it. He expects to need thousands for what's not covered and housing for months to be near the hospital in San Diego, far from their Santa Ana home.
Touch will also need to be near the hospital after his surgery.
The family's GoFundMe page explains the details.
"It's pretty helpful if we got some help a little bit. I don't expect everything but just a little bit might be help," Puthy says.
That roller coaster may take yet another turn after the two have recovered.
NBC4 first reported on the Haks when we reported Touch should have been deported. He was convicted of drug trafficking but was allowed to stay in this country conditionally to help his older sibling.
Immigration officials say two years after the surgery he must return to Cambodia. The family fled the country during the Khmer Rouge regime when Touch was a child.
Touch is a felon who got caught up in drug trafficking. He served a nine-year sentence.
He now speaks to teens about the dangers of drugs.
He was supposed to be deported to his native Cambodia one year ago, but received a temporary stay so that he could donate the kidney to save his brother.
"Just as long as I see him well and healthy that would put a smile on my face," Touch says.
