22-year-old donates kidney to father battling kidney failure ahead of Father’s Day
A 22-year-old woman is celebrating more than just Father’s Day with her dad after she gave him the gift of life.
By Michael Hudak, Kevin Boulandier
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HOLLYWOOD, Florida (WSVN) — A 22-year-old woman is celebrating more than just Father’s Day with her dad after she gave him the gift of life.
Weeks after graduating from the University of Central Florida, Danielle Moberg gave her father a new kidney.
Her father, Daniel, said he has been battling kidney disease for four years and needed a transplant to maintain a normal life.
“I was on dialysis. I had a tube in my stomach,” he said. “It was a matter of, you do dialysis or die when I was in the hospital.”
As time passed, his future looked bleak, as no potential donors appeared until his own daughter thought of an idea.
“I wasn’t going to let him tell me no,” said Danielle.
Following graduation, Danielle got tested and learned she was a match, so she offered her kidney.
Determined to provide her father a second chance at life, she underwent the successful surgery at Memorial Regional Hospital last month.
“I thought about every holiday — his birthday, Christmas — just getting more time with him,” she said.
Her father said he had no idea of his daughter’s plan.
“She didn’t tell me, she just did it. She went on her own. She wasn’t going to be stopped,” he said.
The transplant provided Daniel the gift of a lifetime ahead of Father’s Day.
“It’s hard to put words to it, and it saved my life. I don’t have dialysis anymore, I’m not bound by it. It’s going to be a normal life,” he said.
Danielle said her love for her father is the definition of unconditional love.
“This holiday, especially Father’s Day coming up, we’ll be more appreciative of the time that we have together and just the relationship that we have, and I think it’ll be nice to celebrate,” she said.
Daniel said he’s proud of his daughter and what she did for him.
“She’s giving to her friends or family,” he said.
Danielle told 7News that the scars from her surgery are a badge of honor.
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