Father-in-law gives daughter's husband kidney

Father-in-law gives daughter's husband kidney

Carole Brand
cbrand@eprisenow.com
Sunday, June 17, 2007

Dickie Harrison of Elba believes in love - the love of his daughter, grandchildren and his son-in-law Chris Kyser. Harrison proved that love June 1 by donating a kidney to Kyser, whom doctors said would not have survived without the donation.

Tara Kyser, Chris’ wife, said her father gave her husband back to her.

"I can’t honesty explain what has happened because it’s been so great. My husband can now be a husband and dad to our children where he hasn’t been able to in quite awhile," she said from a University of Alabama in Birmingham townhouse where Chris is recuperating.

Kyser has had a kidney disease since birth, his wife explained. "He really got sick when he turned 30 and now he’s 38, so we’ve had quite a struggle. He developed a blood clot in his lungs and we thought we had lost him. We really didn’t know what we were going to do."

Tara said when her husband arrived at UAB, her father came along.

"He said that he would just try to see if they were a match and they were. The doctors came out and said that they weren’t just a match, but a perfect match."

After many tests, Harrison and Kyser went into the operating room together in June. Harrison returned to his home in Elba after the procedure, while the Kysers remained in Birmingham for recovery.

"This was truly a miracle because I just couldn’t lose Chris now," she said. "We lost our baby in Kinston a few years ago, then we had a house fire and lost everything. Everything has been such a struggle for a long time, but now we can see so many positive things happening for us."

When Harrison was asked why he would do something like this for his daughter and son-in-law, he told his daughter it was,"because I love him too and I want my grandsons to have a father."

The Kysers, of the Basin community, have two sons, a 13-year-old and 8-year-old, who will enjoy having their father around for another Father’s Day on Sunday.

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