- Colleen Le's ex-boyfriend cheated a few months after she donated a kidney to him.
- Her story has gone viral on
TikTok several times, and she is able to laugh about it now.
Colleen Le hit it off with her ex-boyfriend in 2015 when they met through mutual friends. A few months later, she had agreed to give him one of her kidneys.
A few more months later, he cheated on her.
Now, Le has been sharing her story on TikTok and finding comfort in how supportive people are being. One recent video was viewed over 13 million times.
"It's been almost six years since the surgery, so that's what led me to me kind of poking fun at it on TikTok," said Le, who has learned to laugh at the situation over time. She hit the sweet spot of TikTok which really resonates with users, which is having the ability to turn pain from the past into a dark joke.
"Something traumatic and make it funny, you know?" she said.
@colleeeniie Everything happens for a reason #fyp #foryoupage #foryourpage #fypシ #kidneydonation #kidneydonor #relationshipgoals #relationships ♬ original sound - boiwhatdahelllboi1
Le, now 30, told Insider her ex was upfront about his chronic kidney disease from the beginning of their relationship, and "it felt like a calling" for her to get tested to see if they were a match.
"Just seeing his condition, just seeing how much he was suffering through this condition, it made me get tested," she said, "Like, I felt a need to see if I could help this guy."
The operation was scheduled for May 2016, and it was a success. Le showed Insider her "certificate of appreciation" signed by the doctors and surgeons, which thanked her for her "priceless gift."
However, seven months later, Le's ex went on a bachelor party in Vegas with some of his friends from church. On arriving home, he appeared at Le's door unannounced. He told her he'd cheated while on the vacation.
"I was devastated. I was heartbroken. I felt so betrayed," Le said. "But I decided to give him another chance."
Le thought she was dating a person with high morals when she got together with him, but the relationship disintegrated once she found out he'd been unfaithful. "I just couldn't really trust him anymore," she said. And so, three months on, Le was unceremoniously dumped on a phone call in the middle of the argument.
"He said, 'Oh, if God wanted us to be together in the end, then we would,'" she said. "And he pretty much hung up on me and stopped returning my calls and texts."
Le didn't publicly identify the boyfriend, and Insider was unable to reach the man for comment Friday.
@colleeeniie No regrets though ✌ #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #kidneydonation #relationship ♬ Somebody to love Basstrologe Bootleg - mthekyng
Despite the turbulent end, Le doesn't regret her decision. She said she would do it all again. Back then, she didn't want to be left wondering, "What if?"
"I know a lot of people think it's very sad and bizarre that I did that for a boyfriend, but you know, I just thought to myself, who knows if he was gonna die soon or not," she said. "What happens if he doesn't make it?"
She said what's done is already done, and she knows what she did was "life changing." She also doesn't name him in her TikToks because she knows "how crazy the internet is," and doesn't want anyone going after him.
"I saved someone's life, and I can't take that back, so I don't regret what I did at all," she said. "I heard from some of our friends that he got married, so I'm happy for him. And I only wish him the best."