Jim Avila was a veteran correspondent for ABC News. Until he left the network in 2021, he won awards, covered the White House, and served as a reporter on 20/20.
ABC News announced on November 13 that Avila, 69, had died. What was his cause of death? How did Avila die?
According to the network, Avila died "after a long illness." The nature of that illness was not disclosed by the network.
However, according to a video posted by ABC News on Instagram, Avila received a kidney transplant from his brother in 2020.
Diane Macedo, an ABC News anchor, shared that detail in the video. Macedo said, "After leaving ABC News, Jim joined the ABC affiliate in San Diego as a senior investigative reporter covering a wide range of stories with depth and fairness."
She said that his health issues were something he faced "with courage," adding that he had "a kidney transplant donated by his brother."
"We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, including his three children, Jamie, Jenny, and Evan, and we thank him for his many contributions and unwavering commitment to seeking out the truth," ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic said, according to the network's Instagram post.
In 2018, Jaie Avila wrote on Facebook, "Many of you have kindly asked how my brother Jim has been doing after his kidney transplant in April so here’s a photo from a wedding he attended this past weekend. He says he’s feeling good and walking for exercise and no longer needs many of the medications he needed before."
Jaie is also a reporter who is working in San Antonio.
Jaie shared details of his brother's fight with News4SA in 2018. "He's a big reason I got into journalism. An award-winning senior correspondent with ABC News, he always seemed indestructible," he said. "But earlier this year we learned his kidneys were rapidly failing due to diabetes."
Their father had kidney failure as well. "The people I've talked to who have had this transplant say that it starts working right away and you feel better right away. So I'm looking forward to that," Jim said in that story.
He added: "I wouldn't have lived, I mean Jaie -- Jaie and my kids saved my life. There's no way I could have done six to eight years on dialysis. We had a big race to get this done before dialysis and we won the race which is great."