Dunedin couple shares story of unlikely organ donor on Valentine’s Day

Dunedin, Florida – Valentine’s Day is a special day for Dunedin couples this year.

Ray and Lori Rodriguez weren’t sure if the day would come when one of their children was diagnosed with kidney disease and needed a life-saving transplant, but it’s not long before they find the perfect donor. I learned that.

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Exactly 41 years ago this Valentine’s Day, Ray popped the question.

“He said, ‘Do you want to marry me?’ And I just looked at him and was like, oh my god,” said his wife, Lori.

But she said yes.

“When I asked her father to marry me, I started sweating,” Ray said.

Lori and Ray were married on August 30, 1983. This day would later prove to be pure fate, but after their marriage, Ray, a military veteran, was diagnosed with kidney disease.

Doctors believe he may have contracted the infection while stationed in Guam. Over the years his condition worsened and by the late ’90s he needed a new kidney.

“I don’t know, but somehow deep down I knew I was going to do it. I just kept telling myself I was going to do it,” Lori said. “And when they told me I was a match, I was so excited.”

On April 21, 1999, they received a successful kidney transplant.

“It’s like I’m thanking Lori for the gift of life,” Ray said.

Most living donor kidney transplants last about 20 to 25 years. By 2017, Lori’s kidneys were no longer working for Ray, so they put up signs, made T-shirts, advertised on cars and called radio stations to find a new I started looking for a donor.

Then John Hatfield, a complete stranger from South Carolina, heard Ray’s plea and wanted to help. Sure enough, he was a perfect match for the donor.

What’s more, it was meant to be: he and his wife married Lori and Ray on August 30, 1983, the exact same day.

“I asked him, ‘John, is this really your wedding, your anniversary?'” He said, “Yeah, why?” And I said, “Our dates and years are correct.” And he said, ‘No way,’ and ‘Yeah, it’s the same,'” Lori said.

Ray and his new donor, John Hatfield

The two couples come together every year around Thanksgiving to celebrate the gift of life and love. Lori and Ray are now leading advocates for organ donation and Life Link of Florida, an organization that helped organize 891 life-saving organ transplants in Tampa Bay last year.

“Giving the gift of life is like the ultimate gift to give. When you see someone grow, it means everything,” Lori said.