SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah — With both of his kidneys failing, a Saratoga Springs husband and father of three is getting a new lease on life, thanks to his wife.
DeeJay and Alexi Toilolo have been married for almost five years.
"We have a four-year-old girl and then we have one-year-old twins that are boys," Alexi said.
It is a relationship that dates back to 2014.
"Lexi had a lot of friends in the Samoan Ward so she would come to the Samoan ward and go to youth activities," DeeJay said.
Ever since, the high school sweethearts have been joined at the hip, through both the good times and the bad.
The bad includes a day back in June of this year when DeeJay noticed something wasn't right.
"It was a Sunday and he called me and told me that he wasn't feeling great, so I actually came home, took his blood pressure, it was like to 220/80," Alexi said.
After a trip to the hospital, DeeJay was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure.
"They did a kidney biopsy and that's where we learned that there was no coming back from this, like, his kidneys were functioning like 5%," Alexi said.
It was news, Alexi said, didn't even seem real.
"We're so young and we have, like, our whole life planned out and so in that moment it just made me like realize like how fast things can change," Alexi said.
With both of his kidneys failing, DeeJay started dialysis. It's something he says made him feel sluggish and tired.
"I felt slow, so it was either like, you know, pick a poison at that point," DeeJay said.
Alexi says the night they found out her 23-year-old husband needed a kidney transplant, she applied to be a living donor.
A few months later, in September, Alexi says she started going through testing since she and her husband have the same O-Positive blood type.
Last month, they got a phone call that Alexi was a perfect match to donate one of her kidneys to DeeJay.
"The chance of being a match to your husband or wife is one in 100,000, so, we were in complete shock," Alexi said.
Last Friday, November 4th, was transplant day for this Saratoga Springs husband and wife.
"I was so ready to do this from day one that they told me I was able to donate, I was ready, I would have done it the next day," Alexi said.
After receiving his wife's kidney, DeeJay says he woke up feeling both healthier and happier.
"I wanted to be the dad and the husband they needed me to be, but now, the way I felt, I haven't felt like this is high school," DeeJay said.
Now, both Alexi and DeeJay say, they aren't taking anything for granted and looking forward to the future.
"We just take precautions at the beginning and then, hopefully, this kidney lasts," Alexi said.
Both Alexi and DeeJay say the recovery time from their surgery is about six to eight weeks, after that they can start picking up their kids again and even head back to work. It's something they say is made a little easier by having their family and support system right by their side.
A fundraiser for both DeeJay and Alexi will be held on November 19 in Saratoga Springs.
A GoFundMe has also been started for the family, if you would like to donate, you can visit here.
