Virginia man receives kidney from pastor, says he owes priest his life

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TRANSPLANT Aug-15-2013 (840 words) With photo. xxxn

Virginia man receives kidney from pastor, says he owes priest his life

By Steve Neill
Catholic News Service

TAPPAHANNOCK, Va. (CNS) -- Bruce McComb says he owes his life to his pastor, Father Jonathan Goertz of St. Timothy Parish in Tappahannock.

His statement, voiced in strong admiration, is not far from the truth.

McComb, 60, was in desperate need of a kidney transplant. He had been on dialysis for three and a half years and had retired at age 54 because of kidney disease. He had previously received a kidney from his wife, Mimi, in 2002, which was deemed to be a match, but his body later rejected it after he developed sepsis after what a called "a botched hernia surgery" which had caused him to develop sepsis.

Meanwhile, Father Goertz, 31, had explored the possibility of donating a kidney to someone who needed one and was the right match.

"I had already looked into being a donor before this," he told The Catholic Virginian, newspaper of the Richmond Diocese.

After contacting the National Living Kidney Register, he was told he would have to undergo some testing.

"They wanted a doctor to do a few basic tests to see if I could be an eligible donor to anybody," Father Goertz said, adding that the likelihood of finding someone who would be compatible with his kidney was good. In March he went for tests at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.

"They told me, 'Once we put you into the system, there are 100,000 Americans who are on the waiting list and you are going to match with somebody,'" the priest said.

He had learned of McComb's need for a kidney and wanted to help him if possible.

"It always strikes me when I meet somebody who has any kind of need -- physical, spiritual or emotional -- is it possible that I could be the person to can respond to this need?" Father Goertz said.

The priest spoke to McComb after Mass on Palm Sunday. "He said he wanted to give me a kidney and that blew me away," McComb said.

Retired the past six years, he had been trying for four years to get a new kidney. Six people, including family members and friends, were tested to see if they would be a match, but they weren't.

Surgeons at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore told him that he would be a candidate for a cadaver kidney transplant. He was in the operating room there, prepped for the surgery, but doctors found the kidney of the deceased person would not work.

"God aligned the stars for me to be at church (on Palm Sunday) and for Father Jonathan to be not only my pastor, but one that I had no antibodies against," McComb said. "He was a perfect match and he was unwaveringly willing to do it.

"I still find it very thought-provoking that he and I would meet in the small town of Tappahannock and, by the grace of God, I happened to be helped physically, and received spiritual help also," he added.

The two men had medical tests before undergoing the transplant surgery, which took place at Johns Hopkins June 11.

"The most important moment came the night before the surgery," Mimi McComb said. "Father Jonathan came with the oils and gave the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. He invited me and our children to join him in the laying on of hands for Bruce's healing.

"It left Bruce in a state of absolute calmness for the surgery," she added.

"It's rare that the donor anoints the receiver," Bruce McComb said, smiling.

Surgery the next day went smoothly. Father Goertz spent three days in the hospital; McComb six days. Both men are doing fine.

The priest said some friends and family members cautioned him about donating his kidney, which he said showed their loving concern for him.

"As a pastor, as a shepherd, it is irresponsible to ignore his health and not tend to the needs of his flock," Father Goertz said.

"I kept asking God and kept asking the doctors, doing my own research, and it was confirmed over and over and over that I would have some temporary impact from the surgery but that there would be no adverse effects on my life in ministry with one kidney."

Before agreeing to donate the kidney, he consulted Msgr. Mark Richard Lane, Richmond's vicar general and vicar for clergy, and got his best wishes.

"A priest, even from before the time of Christ, has been defined as one who offers sacrifice," Father Goertz said. "The most important way I offer sacrifice is to stand at the altar and participate in the sacrifice of the Eucharist.

"But I also sacrifice for others. My kidney donation to Bruce is one of the most obvious, but it's certainly not the only way," he said, adding that sacrifice is a "real aspect of the life of every Christian. ... We are all called to make real, significant, difficult, maybe painful sacrifices in some way. We constantly discern what that means to each of us."

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Neill is editor of The Catholic Virginian, newspaper of the Diocese of Richmond, Va.

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