Sabrina Josue underwent roughly 1,500 dialysis treatments over the past nine years before receiving the first kidney transplant by the new Queen’s Transplant Center.

The center, which opened in March at the Queen’s Medical Center following the abrupt closure of the Hawaii Medical Centers and only organ transplant center in the Pacific, has completed four liver transplants in addition to the first kidney transplant a week ago.

The 49-year-old Ewa Beach resident was overwhelmed with emotion at a press conference today as she spoke of her long ordeal and the shock she still feels about receiving the lifesaving transplant. 

“It has been a journey, but when the day finally came words cannot describe how I feel and the gratitude I have towards the donor and their family,” said Josue, after being released today from the Queen’s Medical Center. “I’m forever grateful and I’d do it again if I had to. It was worth the wait.”