Valentine’s Day: He suffered from Alport syndrome, needed a new kidney, and his Tinder date saved him

The story of Reid Alexander AND Raffaele Diaz deserves to be remembered every Valentine’s Day. They both met through Tinder, when the former was going through a difficult time with his health and didn’t imagine that in the middle of a pandemic and through a dating app he would find love… and his salvation .

Reid and Rafael, both Americans, started chatting on Tinder in August 2020. Since that day they have never been separated, either virtually or physically. They were “impressed” with each other.

“We really hit it off. And we’ve been together every day since. I felt like we’d known each other for a long time. And we still feel that way,” Reid told People in 2021.

The greatest gesture of love

Alexander, who was 23 at the time, soon revealed his illness to Díaz. Sooner or later his relationship would find out that he wore hearing aids and couldn’t eat salty foods because he suffered from the rare disease Alport syndrome.

This disorder is an inherited form of inflammation of the kidney (nephritis) caused by a defect (mutation) in a gene for a connective tissue protein called collagen. It can cause blood vessel damage, hearing loss, eye problems, kidney disease and kidney failure.

Knowing that Reid was about to begin a dialysis trial and was looking for a donor, Díaz offered him support and took a great interest in his disease, as he did not know anyone who suffered from it. For him, it was never an obstacle that hindered their budding relationship.

Indeed, It didn’t take Rafael long to find out if he could be the one to donate his kidney to him.. “I was like, ‘No, you don’t have to do that.’ But he was very determined,” Alexander said of Rafael’s attitude. His partner was very sure that he could do it because at that moment he was already registered as an organ donor and all that remained was to know if they were compatible.

“I just said, ‘I want to do it. You’re someone I love, that I love, so I can do it for you,'” Díaz said of his decision.

Alexander’s health problems

Reid, originally from Kokomo, Indiana, discovered he had Alport syndrome when he was 17.

After college, doctors told him his kidneys were functioning at 20 percent and he would need dialysis while waiting for the transplant. It was in that meantime that he met Rafael.

After his diagnosis, Reid moved with his parents to Denver, where a few days after the move he opened Tinder and met the man who would become the most influential man in his life.

The operation

The couple took compatibility tests in April 2021 and received the green light in June. The date for transplant: August 13.

That day, finally, Rafael donated his kidney to Reid at Indiana University Health Hospital. Since then, the second’s quality of life has improved significantly.

At first “I felt a lot of pain,” Díaz explained of the operation, but clarified: “If I had to do it again, I would do it again.” For his part, Reid relied on gratitude: “From the first day I woke up in the hospital after surgery and every day after, every time we saw each other, I cried. It means a lot to me.”

I commit

Reid and Rafael got engaged halfway through the period in which the compatibility tests were carried out. Their initial idea was to organize a large wedding, with many guests, but faced with the possibility of a transplant, they used the funds they had saved for the party to donate the kidney.

Díaz can’t believe he met “the love of his life” on the other side of the country and that she was going to donate a kidney to him.

“I don’t think I can do anything to show my gratitude. It means a lot because he made the ultimate sacrifice for me. He gave me an organ so I can live a better life and be healthy. And that’s just incredible,” Reid added .

In conclusion, the couple tried to raise public awareness about organ donation. Diaz said, “You never know who might need you for this or where you can help. You can help families. You can help people. You can help change someone else’s life and give someone the opportunity they didn’t have before. Yes “You can do it, do it.”