Father, daughter celebrate 50th anniversary of kidney transplant

A father and daughter are celebrating a milestone, a kidney transplant 50 years ago that changed the course of medicine.

Ted Lombard gave his then-13-year-old daughter Denice a kidney to save her life.

Denice and twin sister Diane were born with a genetic defect which causes kidney failure.

After Diane died at age 7, doctors wouldn't put Denice on dialysis, saying it was too new and risky.

Her mother convinced UCLA Medical Center to do a living-donor transplant. It was experimental at the time.

"I lost one daughter and I just didn't want to lose another," said Ted.

Now, transplants - including those from living donors - are being done every day.

But the Lombards want everyone to consider becoming a living donor.

There are 100,000 people on the waiting list now and a new name is added every 14 minutes.

The Lombards are believed to be the oldest living donor pair in the United States.

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