Kidney donor receives gift of life

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Kidney donor receives gift of life

Updated: Saturday, 26 Dec 2009, 12:00 AM EST
Published : Friday, 25 Dec 2009, 5:26 PM EST
      By Holly Bristow
      FOX 35 News

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Surrounded by family Wayne Hurst opened Christmas gifts. "This is Thanksgiving, Christmas, all holidays rolled into one this is what I live for," he said. Late in the Fall, Wayne got a reminder what's most important to him when he got some bad news. "I was in stage 5 renal failure in need of a transplant."

He needed a new kidney, badly. It wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

Eight years ago Wayne decided he wanted to do something in memory of his father who died of kidney failure. "My dad died when I was 8. I grew up without a dad. Between that and delivering mail to a dialysis center, I knew there was a real need." So, he donated a kidney. Not to a loved one, but to a man he'd never met. "It was the right thing. It gave him the opportunity to do what everybody else takes for granted. He got married a year after the surgery. Since then he's started a family."

Wayne's family says he's always been a giver. So learning he'd need a new kidney to live was hard on him. "It's easy to give. It’s not easy to receive." His son, a niece and friend all got tested to see if they could give him a kidney. "It’s been humbling," said Wayne.

Thanksgiving eve Wayne got a surprise. "I was visiting a friend in the hospital and got a phone call said they had a kidney for me." Thanksgiving Day, Wayne got that new kidney. "It started working immediately." He's been recovering ever since. "Its a little tough 8 years later at my age."

Wayne's new kidney came from an organ donor, a young man who died in Puerto Rico. "Part of you can help someone else live, that should be incentive" an incentive to give, said Wayne. Wayne gave a kidney, now he's received one. And today he's reminded that the ultimate gift is life and the loved ones who fill it.

Wayne Hurst has been out of work since three months before Thanksgiving and likely won't be able to go back to work for another three months. His family has set up the Wayne Hurst Kidney Transplant Fund at Wachovia to help offset what insurance won't be covering.

VIDEO http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/central_florida/122509-Kidney-donor