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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR ULY 9-15, 2021 5
Victor Sanchez getting ready to DJ. Sanchez has learned to appreciate much more in life
after a kidney transplant 15 year ago. Photos courtesy Victor Sanchez LOVING LIFE
Following kidney transplant, Bronx
DJ treasures life and family
BY JASON COHEN
After dealing with kidney problems
for much of his life and at one point facing
death’ s door, one could say Victor
Sanchez cherishes time with his children
more than most.
In fact, last month, Sanchez, a resident
of the Belmont section of The
Bronx, had an anniversary to celebrate.
In 2006, Sanchez received a life-saving
kidney transplant, allowing him to
watch his four teenage children grow
up. and it also provided him the ability
to continue his other passion, a threedecade
career as a DJ.
“I do feel grateful,” Sanchez told the
Bronx Times. “I’m truly blessed. This
Father’s Day was a little more special
because I could get together with my
family.”
Sanchez, 54, grew up in Hell’s
Kitchen, but has resided in the Boogie
Down for the past 27 years. As a youth
he fell in love with the hip-hop culture,
and was a break dancer and graffi ti artist.
He recalled how his mom would buy
him records from artists such as Biz
Markie, Eric B. and the Fat Boys, which
enhanced his love for the beats and
rhymes. “Eventually, I turned to DJing
because I found it safer than graffi ti,”
he said.
and slowly Sanchez stated to become
known in the music industry. He
worked as a producer, a vocal engineer,
owned a record label and, throughout
the ’90s and early 2000s, traveled worldwide
to DJ events. He even spun house
music in Naples and Venice.
But everything changed in December
1998.
It was then, at the age of just 30, that
he was diagnosed with kidney failure.
Sanchez recalled that fateful day
for the Bronx Times.
As snow pounded the pavement, he
walked to St. Barnabas Hospital with a
bad fever and high blood pressure.
“I had symptoms I wasn’t paying attention
to, but I didn’t know what they
meant,” he said.
Sanchez, who had been going
through a divorce, was quite stressed.
Therefore, he overlooked his sweaty
nose and the metallic taste in his mouth.
These things should have sent him to a
doctor, he said. On top of that he was
eating unhealthy, overweight and dealing
with hypertension. His doctors
were shocked he was alive, he said.
“They were telling me I should have
been dead,” he added.
The doctors wanted him to undergo
emergency dialysis, but Sanchez sought
a second opinion. From there things
didn’t improve. He stayed in the hospital
for a month and had a bout of jaundice
— yellowing of the skin — from not eating.
Again, the doctors were insistent on
dialysis and fi nally, in March of 1999, he
gave in.
“In all honesty, I was deteriorating,”
he said.
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