Facebook friend request leads to transplant

Facebook friend request leads to transplant

By Chris Ramirez
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Sarah Taylor has 336 friends on Facebook, but none as close as Sara Steelman.

Taylor's name was added to a years-long waiting list for a kidney, and the Indiana, Pa., woman was days from starting dialysis when she pleaded for help on the social networking website.

Steelman answered, by giving her a kidney.

The two women hugged Monday in Allegheny General Hospital where, four weeks ago, they underwent transplant surgery that doctors say likely saved Taylor's life.

"What more can you say about someone who gives you life? I feel so connected to her," Taylor said. "We're connected for life."

The transplant was June 15. Dr. Ngoc L. Thai, director of the hospital's Center for Abdominal Transplantation, said the prognosis for each woman is "excellent," though Taylor must undergo some postsurgery testing.

He expects more patients to turn to such websites for help finding donor matches.

"It's the way of the future," Thai said. "You can't stop it at this point."

Demand for transplants in recent years has far outpaced the supply of donated organs, causing patients to wait months or even years for organs.

In 1999, Taylor suffered an aneurysm and near-fatal dissected aorta, or tear in the wall of the largest artery. That triggered a series of health problems that led to renal kidney failure.

Doctors said in 2007 that her kidneys were functioning at just 14 percent of capacity and dialysis was imminent. Taylor can't drive because of her condition, and dialysis would mean relying on others for transportation to appointments at a clinic in Indiana.

Many of her family members, including her three sisters, offered kidneys. None was suitable; two have high blood pressure, and one wasn't a match.

Taylor was placed on the waiting list for a kidney in 2009. That's when she decided to tell her story on Facebook.

"I was depressed and distraught, and didn't know where else to turn to," said Taylor, 53.

She set the bar high for donors in her posting. She asked for someone between the ages of 18 and 64, with type O blood, who wasn't diabetic or obese and didn't have high blood pressure.

The first week, about 50 people responded, including a woman in New Zealand who was a friend of one of her high school chums. By the third week, 197 responses had rolled in. One of them was from Steelman, 64, a vegetarian who rides horses and practices yoga three times a week.

She lives two blocks from Taylor.

"There's just such a tremendous need out there," said Steelman, who holds a doctorate in behavioral genetics from Stanford University. "In this case, the need was right here in my own community."

Taylor's youngest sister, Amy Taylor-Liboski, is the thread between the two women. She worked in Steelman's office when Steelman represented the Indiana area in the state House from 1991 to 2002. The three women performed together in a community theater production of "The Women."

All the responses to Taylor's Facebook query went to Allegheny General, where transplant coordinators narrowed the candidates to four, Thai said. After months of screening, they deemed Steelman the best match because she exercised often and had low blood pressure.

"She was super healthy," Thai said.

Nationally, 117,900 people are on waiting lists for transplants and about 600 die each month while waiting for organs. Of the 8,322 people awaiting organs in Pennsylvania, 5,995 are seeking kidneys, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing in Richmond, Va., a national inventory for organ transplants.

Nearly two-thirds of patients from Pennsylvania waiting for organs, or 62 percent, are older than 50. Blacks constitute 11 percent of the state's population, but 32 percent of Pennsylvanians awaiting organ transplants.

Steelman urged people to become living donors, if they can.

"We've known each other for a long time, but we weren't terribly close. I didn't realize until I saw Facebook that she needed a donor and there was a possibility," Steelman said. "I just felt I had to do something. It feels good to be able to help."

Thai said Taylor's recovery is going so well that he doesn't anticipate problems. Taylor has drawn disability benefits since 1999. She might consider restarting her catering business when she is healthy enough. She has to stay home for three months to prevent infection.

"I completely owe my life to her," Taylor said. "Everything I am from this point, it's because of her."

Chris Ramirez can be reached at cramirez@tribweb.com or 412-380-5682.

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