Photo: Bob Owen/The San Antonio Express-News via AP

In this Monday, May 6, 2019 photo, Ava Shepperd, 14, left, and her brother John Ben Shepperd, second from right, sit with their parents Kim Azar Shepperd, and John Shepperd, right, at University Transplant Center, in San Antonio, Texas. The brother and sister both have a genetic disorder that compromised their kidneys, and were recipients of kidneys from one donor. (Bob Owen/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

After Kim Azar and John Shepperd’s son and daughter were born with the same rare kidney disorder, the parents said that all they’d need is one donor to provide kidneys for both children. But they never thought it could actually happen. Until now.

Ava Shepperd, 14, and her brother John Ben Shepperd, 18, of Texas, both have cystinosis, a genetic disorder that can damage organs — particularly the eyes and kidneys — resulting in the need for transplants early in life,according toGood Morning America. As their health declined over the years, the siblings underwent dialysis and were added to the donor wait list for new kidneys.

Bob Owen/The San Antonio Express-News via AP

In this Monday, May 6, 2019 Dr. Elizabeth Thomas, left, Associate Professor of Surgery at University Transplant Center, makes comments about Ava Shepperd, 14, hugging her father John Shepperd, and her brother John Ben Shepperd, far right, next to his mother Kim Azar Shepperd, at the center in San Antonio, Texas. The brother and sister both have a genetic disorder that compromised their kidneys, and were recipients of kidneys from one donor, with the transplants occurring at the center. (Bob Owen/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Then, last week, the family got the call they’d been waiting for. Ava and John Ben would be receiving kidneys from a single donor.

“We never in a million years would have guessed that they would be receiving kidneys on the same day at the same time,” Kimtold theRivard Report.

The parents called it “a miracle,” tellingGMAthat the operations on May 3 at University Hospital in San Antonio were successful. Ava lives with Kim in Alpine and John Ben with John in Austin, accordingto theHouston Chronicle.

“They’re doing great,” John said of his son on Wednesday. “John Ben was released yesterday and Ava was released about an hour ago. Now they have a chance to fly because they are not tethered to the dialysis life anymore.”

In this Monday, May 6, 2019 photo, Ava Shepperd, 14, rests her head on her father John Shepperd’s shoulder during interviews at the University Transplant Center, in San Antonio, Texas where she and her brother John Ben Shepperd, who both have a genetic disorder that compromised their kidneys, were recipients of kidneys from one donor. (Bob Owen/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

John Ben was diagnosed with the illness when he was about a year old, and doctors told the family that he would likely only live for 10 years, the family recalled toGMA. Ava was diagnosed after her birth in 2005. John Ben spent at least a year on the transplant list and Ava spent about three months, according to theReport.

“It took me a few minutes to realize that they actually had a kidney for both me and my sister,” John Bentold KSAT. “It’s a little crazy. It’s kind of hard to believe because I feel like I had been waiting for so long.”

He added toGMA: “The biggest thing I want to come out of us telling our story is getting the word out there that organ donation is important.”

John and Kim said that they are grateful for the donor’s decision.

“Obviously if a person gives both kidneys they’re deceased,” John said. “I would show [the donor’s family] John Ben and Ava and say, ‘look, there is great good that came out of this.”

Ava added: “I’m really happy. I feel bad for the family, but I’m really grateful that they made the decision to save [another] life.”

source: people.com