http://www.swrnn.com/2011/12/09/riverside-teen-who-donated-kidney-to-ride-float-at-rose-parade/

Riverside teen who donated kidney to ride float at Rose Parade

On New Year's Day the national TV spotlight will be on the 18-year-old college student John Orta, as this year's sponsored float rider by Loma Linda University Transplantation Institute on the 2012 Donate Life Rose Parade Float.

Orta, a Riverside resident, donated a kidney to his identical twin brother, Jake, who suffered from kidney disease since birth.

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"I feel privileged to be part of the Rose Parade," Orta said in a released statement.

Orta is a freshman marketing major at California State University San Bernardino.

"I never thought about becoming a float rider," he said. "My brother and I are really close and I was fortunate to be in a position to help when he was in trouble. All I wanted was to be there to help."

On May 10, 2010, Orta became a living kidney donor at the age of 16, which is rare because of his status as a minor.

"As a minor, I had to meet with many social workers, psychiatrists, and get cleared by an ethics panel, which granted me a rare policy exception due to the maturity they felt I embodied," he recalled.

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