Daughter Saves Mother's Life With Kidney Donation

One mother received a gift greater than a bouquet of flowers and a card for Mother's Day. Mindy Lam, a 45-year-old jewelry designer from Rockville, Maryland received the gift of life when her 19-year-old daughter, Kelly Sia, donated a kidney to save her mother's life.

Three years ago, Mindy was rushed to the emergeny room and nearly died. She was diagnosed with hypertensive nephropathy, or untreated high blood pressure that damaged her kidneys beyond repair. Mindy was stunned to learn of her diagnosis as she had no symptoms of high blood pressure, but doctors say that nearly 36 million Americans don't have their condition under control. She was given to options to save her life: undergo a kidney transplant or be put on dialysis. Unfortunately, the kidney donor list consists of over 102,000 Americans, so Mindy chose peritoneal dialysis which required her to be hooked up to a machine up to five times a day.

At the time, Kelly wanted to donate a kidney to her mother, but was too young at age 16. Mindy also suffered from dialysis-related complications, including catheter infections that were so severe they landed her in the ICU several times. Finally, when Kellly turned 18, she told her mom that she wanted to go through with kidney donation. On February 15, 2013, the two women checked into the hospital and the surgery was a success for both of them. Both women have recovered completely since the transplant surgery and share matching scars underneath their belly buttons. Kelly says that she wears her like a badge of honor, knowing that she saved her mother's life, who has already given her so much.