SAN ANTONIO (KABB) — A nationally known veteran journalist who spent years as a senior correspondent for ABC News has died.

Jim Avila passed away at age 70 after a lengthy illness.

Avila is the brother of KABB I-Team reporter Jaie Avila. In fact, Jaie donated a kidney to his brother in 2018 when Jim's kidneys started to fail.

Jim was an outstanding reporter. He inspired me to get into the news business and in many other areas of my life. He won just about every award there is, but he was especially proud of being inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame during a ceremony here in San Antonio in 2019," explained Jaie.

“Jim was dedicated to his career as a journalist, but he loved his three children most of all, Jamie, Jenny and Evan. The kidney transplant allowed him to see one of his children get married, as well as the birth of his two grandchildren, so that was a tremendous blessing," said Jaie.

Jaie said his brother suffered a painful decline after his kidneys failed. Jim wanted to avoid dialysis and quickly arranged the transplant.

"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," Jim said.

Jim was a Senior National Correspondent for ABC News, and a long-time correspondent for NBC News before that.

During his time at ABC, he was a White House Correspondent during the Obama Administration and an investigative reporter based in Washington, D.C., before moving to a post in Los Angeles. He won the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Merriman Smith Memorial Award for breaking the news of the reopening of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba.

In his career, he won two National Emmy Awards and five Edward R. Murrow Awards, among other honors.

Avila departed ABC News in 2021, but two years later joined KGTV-TV in San Diego, an ABC affiliate, as senior investigative reporter.

“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,” said ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic in a statement.