HCV Infected Singer Got Kidney from Daughter

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Singer Freddy Fender to get kidney from daughter By JIM PATTERSON Associated Press Posted December 11 2001, 4:53 PM EST NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Singer Freddy Fender, who is battling health problems including hepatitis C, will have an operation next month to receive a kidney donated by his daughter. "It's not that easy to ask someone for an organ,'' said Fender, who scored the 1970s hits ``Before the Next Teardrop Falls'' and "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.'' The 64-year-old Fender, who lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, said Tuesday that he also needs a liver transplant because of cirrhosis. Doctors would like to do both operations at once to keep trauma to his body to a minimum, but he can no longer wait for a liver to become available. "Freddy needs a kidney more than he needs a liver,'' said his wife, Vangie. "He can't tolerate dialysis very well. It makes him weak.'' Fender currently has dialysis every other day, and without a transplant he will soon need it every day, said his publicist, Kirt Webster of Nashville. The transplant is scheduled for January at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. Fender is to receive the organ donated by 21-year-old daughter Marla Garcia of Jacksonville, Fla., who recently had a baby. "She is a woman of substance,'' Fender said. Garcia's kidney is a perfect match for her father, said Vangie Fender. The success of the operation will depend on whether his body can withstand the drugs that will have to be administered to do the surgery. Fender has three other children, two of whom weren't eligible because they have diabetes, his wife said. "I don't have any words for how we feel about Marla volunteering,'' she said. ``I get goose bumps every time I think about it. She is so young.'' Fender, whose birth name was Baldemar G. Huerta, began his career in the 1950s singing in Spanish. He achieved a couple of regional hits after switching to English, then had his career stalled by a prison stretch for possession of marijuana. Louisiana Gov. Jimmie Davis, a singer known for "You Are My Sunshine,'' helped Fender get an early release from prison. Producer Huey P. Meaux masterminded Fender's rise to fame, which climaxed when "Before the Next Teardrop Falls'' was named best single by the Country Music Association in 1975. Fender's battles with drugs and alcohol led to a career decline in the 1980s, but he resurfaced by the end of the decade as a member of the Texas Tornadoes, with Doug Sahm, Augie Myers and Flaco Jimenez. Since falling ill, Fender has continued to work as much as he can. He hopes to return to performing next year. "It sure helps a lot with the IRS,'' he said of his reduced workload. "If you don't go to work, you're just fine with them.'' ___ On the Net: Official Freddy Fender site:www.freddyfender.com/