David Patterson has never played much of a part in the life of his daughter, Renada. He deserted her and her mother and wound up in prison on a burglary charge.
But Tuesday, he was released from prison temporarily to donate one of his kidneys to the daughter he hardly knows."He's definitely been a non-presence, no-help kind of person," Renada's mother, Vickie Daniel, said Monday at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, where the four-hour operation was to begin at noon.
She added, however, that now "he'll make a difference."
Renada Daniel-Patterson, 13, was born with one kidney that failed when she was 5. She got a new kidney that year, but her body rejected it a year later.
Since then, she has waited seven years for another donor to be found. Her mother couldn't donate hers because she is diabetic; nobody else was a perfect match.
Three days a week Renada has dialysis, but doctors have said a new kidney is needed to save her life.
Patterson had known all along that his daughter needed a kidney and had stayed in contact with her and her mother. But in November, he unexpectedly offered his own.
"If you can forgive me, I will do my best to be the daddy I should have been a long time ago," he wrote.
Patterson will be under 24-hour guard at the hospital through his recovery, which is expected to take five days to a week.
The state Corrections Department had first said Renada's family would have to pay the $8,000 bill for two armed guards to watch over Patterson.
It later waived the charge after officials learned the girl's condition was life-threatening and her family couldn't afford it. The state is picking up the bill for the guards, hospital spokesman Bill Gordon said.
Renada last saw her father when she was 8. Her parents were never married.
Patterson has been serving a seven-year sentence at the California State Prison in Folsom and is scheduled for release next year, Daniel said.