A great story

[Jill D.]

I am at Mayo Clinic for my one year transplant follow up, and while sitting in the extremely busy waiting area to have labs drawn, I happened to be sitting by several people who had recently had kidney transplants. This is one gentleman's story:

After dialysis one day, he and his wife stopped at the grocery store. The woman at the check out register asked what had happened to him, since his arm was so bruised and swollen. He told her that it was from dialysis, and jokingly asked her if she knew anyone who would give him a kidney. She replied, "Yes - I would!" Turns out that she was sincere in her offer, was a match, and only 3 1/2 months later he is telling us this story in the Mayo waiting room looking healthy with this wonderful woman's kidney! This gentleman is 68, his donor is 45 years old with 3 children and a husband who supported her decision to donate her kidney to a stranger. 

The gentleman's wife was telling the story to some other folks that they were sitting next to, but since my husband and I were sitting across from them we couldn't help but hear this amazing story. I told him that I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but that it was a beautiful story and I almost cried! He was grinning ear to ear and said he was still feeling like he was living a dream...and that angels do exist here on earth.

Just wanted to share...sometimes it's hard to "ask" but sometimes, like George Jung is doing, it's worth getting the word out since you never know where the angels are in your life.

[okarol]

That is a great story! I think that if a donor is willing, and also has full informed consent regarding risks, that living donation is an incredible act of kindness. It's one of the highest callings I can think of. And it's people like that cashier that make all the difference in the life of someone who is waiting for an organ. Thanks Jill!

[tamara]

It's great to hear these stories yep, there are angels here on earth   

[Sluff]

Fate. Karma, devine intervention, whatever you want to call it  Great story. 

[George Jung]

Just wanted to share...sometimes it's hard to "ask" but sometimes, like George Jung is doing, it's worth getting the word out since you never know where the angels are in your life.

I think you have to talk about it.  You have to force people to give it (kidney failure) a thought, wheather it be about the cause of failure, the life, the treatment, or any aspect of dealing with the disease.  You can't force people to learn but you can force them to think about learning.  I can't ask anyone (nor do I want to) to donate a kidney but I can at least get people thinking and wondering so they can make a choice to educate themselves and make that decision with some kind of informed thought.  I am sure most people would rather keep moving on with their busy lives without ever having to give renal failure a thought but with me they will have to think about it, if only for a moment.

Good story by the way, although I don't think my hospital would approve the donation coming from someone I just met? 

Do you know if that is true Paris?

[KT0930]

Wonderful story. Thanks for sharing, Paris!

[KR Cincy]

Great story Jill...but the question is, how did YOUR follow-up go??

[stauffenberg]

I know a number of fanatical Christian fundamentalists, who are forever talking about their need to live a life in imitation of Christ, and who constantly fuss and fume about whether anyone has had an abortion, premarital sex, has seen pornography, or has used salty language, but not one of them would ever think that imitating Christ might involve anything so serious as feeling obligated to donate one of their extra kidneys to someone who had none.  Far from it: they don't even go so far as to give away all their surplus money to the poor, even though "the chances of a rich man getting into heaven are as likely as those of a camel passing through the eye of a needle" -- as I once heard somewhere.

[kidney4traci]

Great sory Jill!  That is amazing.  There are good people in this world.  Thanks for sharing.  I will mention it now to everyone and wear my scars proudly!!!

[paris]

Good question,George.  I would just say it was a friend and leave it at that!  I know Duke refused an alturistic donor a couple of years ago and it made the local news.  But, if a stranger offered, they would quickly become my best friend ever!    Maybe I should rent a billboard? An ad in the personals? Running out of ideas and people to test!!

Jill, it is a great story and we all need to hear these happy endings to continue to give us hope. Can you believe it has been a year?  I am so pleased for you. You certainly deserved this second chance and Terry continues to be my hero.  I know your check up will go great.  Can't wait for another chance to get together.  And Jim, too--he is so much fun.  Next time he needs to sleep on my bed instead of the couch!! ( That will give people something to talk about!)  So glad this year has been such a good one for you.   You know I love ya!!!

[angela515]

Awesome and inspiring story. I to think a living donor are the hero's of the world, and angels among us. My mom was already my hero before I ever even got sick, but she became my angel as well when she gave me her kidney. I also think the person and their family's who die and pass along the chance of life are heroes and going home to be angels as well... for my 15-yr old angel has given me a second chance with a transplant to do the best I can at being a mom and accomplish my dreams.

This story makes me wanna cry! 

[goofynina]

Thank you for sharing that Jill, that story brought tears to my eyes and warmth to my heart, just what i needed before heading to bed, so nice to know there truly is such a thing as Angels, very comforting 

[stauffenberg]

I'm still obsessing over my question of why Christian fundamentalists devote their entire life to Jesus but won't donate a kidney to save a fellow human's life.  According to estimates, there are forty million Christian fundamentalists in the United States alone, and so even if you assume that only one fourth of them would make medically suitable kidney donors, then they could still provide enough kidneys for donation to treat all the endstage renal patients (about one in one thousand people) in the entire world, with a considerable supply of kidneys left over for future patients!  But given that there is so much suffering in the world because of the unmet need for kidney donation, I can only assume that the vast majority of those who think they are fundamentalist Christians are not.

[Bajanne]

What a wonderful story!!  I am so glad that I clicked on it.  Thanks for sharing with us.
But there is a group of Christians somewhere who do offer their kidneys to strangers.  I heard about it some time back, and it seems that they are considered weird.