Kidney donor found on Internet answers Sullivan man's prayers

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Kidney donor found on Internet answers Sullivan man's prayers

By BOB FALLSTROM - H&R Community News Editor | Posted: Friday, June 25, 2010 12:01 am

SULLIVAN - Rodney Fleming met Lita Tomas on the Internet. She was destined to save his life.

Fleming is a 58-year-old retired fire captain in Sullivan who has a hereditary kidney disease. Tomas, 56, a retired Army major, lives in Oak Brook.

Fleming had been on a kidney transplant list for six years. A previous transplant had failed. On May 20, Tomas donated a kidney to Fleming in Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

After failing to find a donor among his friends, Fleming had prayed for someone to help him. He heard about MatchingDonors, a nonprofit Canton, Mass., venue where patients and potential donors can communicate. His daughter, Elizabeth, took charge on the Internet. The site is www.matchingdonors.com.

Tomas, looking to make a difference in somebody's life, joined MatchingDonors on the suggestion of her daughter, Kym. Within minutes, she saw Fleming's profile and decided she would contact him. "My blood type is A+, the same as yours," Tomas wrote to Fleming.

Yes, she was a match.

"He's stuck at home," Tomas learned. "He can't go on vacation with the grandkids; he can't do things like everybody else."

Fleming has a kidney disease called Alports syndrome.

He told Tomas: "My father died from the disease, and I have two siblings who have also inherited the disease. My sister has had a transplant. My brother is about to go on dialysis. Due to the hereditary factor, none of my family may be a donor. I am on peritoneal dialysis 10 hours every night at home. Because of the treatments and the fear of not being home to receive a good news call, I stay close except for some day excursions to see the St. Louis Cardinals play baseball.

"I have spent most of my adult life saving other people and would have never given it up. I have two grown children and four grandchildren.

"I was hoping and praying that someone would be willing to save my life. I want nothing more than to be able to travel and spend lots of time with the grandchildren who think grandpa is the greatest."

Fleming and Tomas touch base often, and both are doing well. Fleming was able to leave the hospital in three weeks. He no longer is on dialysis and is eating pizza and drinking milkshakes for the first time in years.

His first transplant, in 1993 from a cadaver, was good for 10 years.

"That's about the expectancy with a cadaver transplant," he said. "A transplant from a live donor should last longer."

Dr. Jeremiah Lowney, one of the Web site founders, said there are more than 4,170 potential donors listed. He said it is the largest living donor database in the country.

A new name on the donor list is Lita Tomas' daughter. Like her mother, she will be giving a kidney to a stranger she met on the Internet.

bfallstrom@herald-review.com|421-7981

http://www.herald-review.com/news/local/article_93fd7297-7de8-5e6c-bf67-36608bfce940.html