These celebrities survived thanks to organ transplants

While celebrities are often shielded in a cloak of glamour, they are mere mortals with serious health problems too. Take 'Modern Family' actress Sarah Hyland, for example. She had renal dysplasia, causing her enormous pain. In 2012, her body even rejected a kidney donated by her father, so she had to undergo another transplant, this time with a kidney from her brother. Amid the 15 surgeries she's undergone, she's also dealt with suicidal thoughts.

Mandy Patinkin, known for his roles in TV shows like 'Homeland' and 'Criminal Minds,' and movies like 'The Princess Bride', suffered from keratoconus. This condition caused his right cornea to become thinner and protrude in a cone shape, leading to vision problems. After living with it for over a decade, he got a corneal transplant in 1997.

Lucy Davis, the British actress known to many for her roles in hit shows like 'The Office (UK)' and 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,' has a remarkable personal story that few may know. During a routine medical check-up, she was diagnosed with kidney failure, ultimately requiring a life-saving kidney transplant in 1997.

Selena Gomez said on a recent episode of 'Dear...' that she's forever grateful to her best friend Francia Raisa for donating one of her kidneys. Gomez had lupus and said she was "terrified for my life completely."

SNL and '30 Rock' star Tracy Morgan also underwent a kidney transplant after he said he went years without taking his diabetes seriously. In December 2011, he received the organ from his then-girlfriend Tanisha, but they broke up shortly after.

In 2005, actor and comedian George Lopez underwent a kidney transplant due to advanced kidney disease, possibly caused by a genetic disorder that produced cysts. He was only diagnosed in 2004 and says he had been ignoring signs of poor health for years. His wife, Ann Serrano Lopez, donated her kidney.

Alonzo Mourning, one of the NBA's top centers, was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a serious kidney disease. In 2003, he underwent a kidney transplant and had the organ donated to him by his estranged cousin Jason Cooper, who he hadn't seen in 25 years.

Amy Purdy, a Paralympic athlete from the United States, nearly lost her life to meningitis. While she ultimately survived, the disease resulted in the amputation of both her legs and a kidney transplant that was donated by her father.

Fellow NBA player Sean Elliot had the same medical condition as Mourning and also needed a kidney transplant. He was diagnosed with the degenerative disease in 1994 and eventually got a replacement kidney from his brother Noel.

Crizz Chapman, best known for his role as Grizz in the NBC series '30 Rock,' underwent a kidney transplant in July 2010. The actor had been suffering from significant hypertension and had been on dialysis prior to the transplant.

Salvador Sobral, the Portuguese singer who won the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with his song 'Amar pelos dois,' successfully underwent a heart transplant at Santa Cruz Hospital in Lisbon the same year. Sobral had been connected to an artificial heart for three months due to a heart condition that prevented him from pumping blood effectively.

Eric Abidal, a French soccer player, underwent a liver transplant in 2012 while playing for Barcelona due to a relapse of a cancerous tumor that had been removed in 2011. His supposed cousin and donor was Gerard Arman. However, Spanish authorities are investigating what happened, as they suspect Arman is not a relative and was instead paid for his organ, which is illegal.

Venezuelan singer José Luis Rodríguez, known as 'El Puma,' underwent a double lung transplant at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis that he had been battling since 2000.

Legendary Spanish singer Raphael revealed on the TV show 'Mi casa es la tuya' in 2016 that he feared for his life due to a failing liver. He admits that he struggled with alcohol and contracted hepatitis B in the 1980s. It got so bad that in 2003, he had to undergo a liver transplant.

There are also stories that ended sadly. Some celebrities stretched their lifespan thanks to transplants but died later. In 2009, Apple Founder Steve Jobs quietly underwent a liver transplant two years before he died. In 2004, Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver. According to the biography 'Becoming Steve Jobs', his partner Tim Cook offered to donate part of his liver, something Jobs flatly refused.

Larry Hagman, better known as the notorious villain from the hit television series 'Dallas,' underwent a liver transplant in 1995. As a result of his excessive consumption of strong drinks, the actor suffered from cirrhosis, but it was a tumor that led doctors to make the decision to transplant a healthy liver. Hagman passed away in 2012 at age 81.

David Crosby, the founder of the American rock band The Byrds and member of the band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, had to undergo a liver transplant in 1994 due to his abuse of certain illegal substances. It gave him more than three decades of life until he passed away in January 2023 at the age of 81.

In May 2009, American singer Natalie Cole, daughter of the legendary jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole, underwent a kidney transplant at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles due to complications from hepatitis C, which her publicist said she likely contracted when she used drugs decades prior. She would die of heart failure at age 65 in 2015.

Gary Coleman, the beloved star of the hit series 'Diff'rent Strokes,' suffered from a congenital kidney disease that caused him to develop nephritis. As a result of this condition, he needed two kidney transplants (in 1973 and 1984), but unfortunately experienced two rejections, ultimately having to rely on dialysis for the rest of his life. Tragically, Coleman passed away in May 2010 at the age of 42 after falling down a staircase.

The actor best known for his role as Nog in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' was born with a single, defective kidney, which required him to undergo dialysis from a young age. At the age of 17, he received his first kidney transplant, and in 2015, he underwent a second transplant. Sadly, he passed away in September 2019 at age 50.

James Redford, son of legendary actor Robert Redford, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis that affected his liver in his youth. This required him to undergo two liver transplants. He died in October 2020 from bile duct cancer in the liver after founding the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness years earlier.