Woman was asked if regretted donating a kidney to her cheating ex on TV — her one word response went viral
On May 23, Colleen Le celebrated the 10th year of her kidney donation and confessed how she felt about the betrayal
Colleen Le (@colleeeniie), a Californian woman, was in her 20s when she decided to donate her kidney to her ailing boyfriend. For her, it was an act of love and the only way she could keep him alive. Despite the risk, Le said yes to the surgery, anticipating a forever-happy life with the man of her dreams. But only a few months after the surgery, the man she loved and adored cheated on her with multiple women, turning her sacrifice into heartbreak.
A decade after the heartbreak, Le has become a content creator who often shares how she navigated her life post-betrayal and breakup while motivating others to gracefully deal with the challenges. On 23rd May, the woman celebrated the 10th year of her kidney donation and confessed that despite the betrayal, she doesn't regret saving her ex-boyfriend's life. Her video has gone viral with 708,100 views on TikTok.
@colleeeniie Exactly 10 years ago to this day, I donated my kidney to someone who needed it. Although it didn’t end up the way I wanted, I still have no regrets. Sharing my story has given me so many opportunities I never thought were possible & for that, I am truly grateful.
♬ The Winner Is - DeVotchKa & Mychael Danna
The act of love
Le met her ex-boyfriend in 2015 through mutual friends. He was only 27 when he told her about a chronic kidney disease. "He had to connect to a machine every night to filter out his kidneys... just knowing that his kidney function was already below 5%, it made me have this urgency to help him," Lee told BuzzFeedVideo. After months of consultation and several medical tests, doctors confirmed she was healthy enough to donate her kidney. The surgery went well, and Lee took almost two weeks to recover from it. While the doctors did not put her on a strict lifestyle, they did warn her against excessive physical activities for the rest of her life. Meanwhile, Le's sacrifice changed her ex-boyfriend's life forever. "They took the tube out of his stomach, so he didn't have to go to dialysis anymore," she recalled.
Brutal betrayal
Everything was going well until one night, a few months after the surgery, when everything changed. Le's ex-boyfriend traveled to Las Vegas to attend a friend's wedding, and there, he cheated on her with multiple women at the bachelorette party. Guity, the man, returned from the trip and confessed to Le about his infidelity. "I was devastated. I was heartbroken. I felt so betrayed. But I decided to give him another chance," she told Business Insider. While she was ready to forgive him and move on, her ex-boyfriend decided to step back. One day, during a call, he promptly shut down and said, “If God wanted us to be together, then we’ll find a way back together in the end.” He, in fact, blocked her on social media, and that was the end of their time together.
'No regrets,' says Le
On the first anniversary of the kidney transplant, he tried to get back into Le’s life, but at that point, she had moved on. When asked whether she regrets donating her kidney to her cheating ex-boyfriend, she said no. Fast forward to today, Le has already found love again and has moved on in her new life. "I saved someone's life, and I can't take that back, so I don't regret what I did at all," she confessed. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend, too, has moved on and has married someone else. Talking about that, Le wished him good luck and said, "I heard from some of our friends that he got married, so I'm happy for him."
The trauma of moving on
In contrast to the general notion that altruism is reciprocal, it might not always be so. A report published in Frontiers in Psychology stated that altruism can sometimes be the back door to hell. When the good or kind act is reciprocated with hostility or exploitation, it often triggers anger, frustration, and resentment in the giver, at having to sacrifice so much and receive nothing in return. And there can be no greater infidelity than realizing that one’s partner cheated. It is more than heartbreak, and it leaves the betrayed individual spinning in circles, often questioning the sanitized versions of people.
A 2021 study published in Stress and Health reported that 30 to 60 percent of individuals experience clinically significant levels of trauma, depression, anxiety, hypervigilance, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts after betrayal. Praise for Le’s inner strength and commitment to love that she was able to find a support system and move on.
'Girl, get it back,' suggests netizens
Meanwhile, reacting to the heartbreaking story, @zauci said, "He cannot possibly think he’s a good person after all of that. He cheated on the woman who gave him a kidney. He has to live with that. Wow." Similarly, @oatbuttergirl said, "Get your kidney back, girl!" @amber_alert456 confessed, "Bro, I would continue to ruin his life if he did that. Every new job I get, I will go and announce it in the office."
You can follow Colleen Le (@colleeeniie) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.
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