Dialysis Patient Marries Fiancée 4 Days After Getting Kidney Transplant: ‘No One Is Promised Tomorrow’

A Texas man who got a new lease on life after receiving a kidney transplant decided to make his days count by heading down the aisle.

Texas resident Tony Cross told local news station KDFW-TV that he and his fiancée Cynthia had been planning to get married at the courthouse on March 27 — but an unexpected call changed all of his plans.

“I've been on dialysis for five years so you know it put me up there, but I wasn't expecting to get the call as soon as I did,” Cross told the outlet. 

He continued, "It was pretty early and, you know, I get these spam calls all the time. So I was about to get an attitude. But they asked to speak to me.”

On the other end of the line were medical professionals with Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth, who notified Cross that he was finally eligible for a kidney transplant, and that he needed to get to the hospital and report for surgery later that day.  

While recovering from the surgery, Cross told KDFW-TV that he got the brilliant idea to move his planned wedding with Cynthia up by a few weeks. He said he asked her at the hospital what she thought about the idea.

"I asked her, did she mind us getting married in the hospital?" he recalled.

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"I’m going, ‘At the hospital?’ He said, ‘Yeah!’ And I said, ‘If you want to, fine with me,’ " Cynthia added.

The doctors and nurses at Texas Health Harris Methodist then scrambled together to help make the couple’s dreams come true. They got a minister and set up the chapel at the hospital for the nuptials. 

The couple exchanged vows just four days after his successful kidney surgery. Cynthia wore a leopard printed dress as she said “I do” in the chapel, while Cross donned a casual hoodie and sweatpants. 

He could be seen saying his vows while in a wheelchair with a mask on as he was still in recovery from the surgery. The couple noted to KDFW-TV that they wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

"Now that he has his kidney, it’s like a new chance with life,” Cynthia told the outlet. “He has a new beginning.”

"Exactly! No one is promised tomorrow," Cross added.