One of us: This Florida native has charitable giving in her blood

One of us: Debbie Shearer
Sara Kaufman | February 25, 2010 | 4 Comments

This Florida native has charitable giving in her blood. After her son died, she decided to honor him by paying it forward and participating in an altruistic doner program. Just a few weeks post surgery, she is still in great spirits despite the challenges of recovery.

Where are you from originally and how did you get to Ponte Vedra?

I was raised in Tallahassee so I’m a true Florida girl. I have always been one that wants to be near my parents. We are a very close family, so after my parents moved here in the early 90s, it wasn’t long before I fell in love with this area and decided to move, too.

How did you hear about this type of "pay it forward" surgery?

I did some research first by calling UF Shands here locally and inquiring about signing up as an altruistic donor. At [that] time they only used donors of family members or friends. I then began to search on the internet and found out about The Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation.

What are the particulars for this type of donation and how does it work?

Kidney paired donation is a transplant option for those waiting for a kidney transplant. It is for patients who have a willing living donor who is incompatible. The system matches one incompatible donor/recipient pair to another pair in the same situation. The donor of the first pair gives to the recipient of the second pair and vice versa. In other words, the two pairs swap kidneys. In this case, I am the altruistic donor; therefore I am the start of the chain.

The goal is to identify as many compatible pairs as possible and to maximize the number of matched pairs. Non-simultaneous Extended Altruistic Donor Chains allow donors to "pay it forward" after their loved one receives a transplant.

How many are in your chain?

To date, we have eight people in the chain of life and I can’t wait to continue hearing about the future donors and recipients in line.

What convinced you to donate an organ?

We lost our 22 year old son George to medical malpractice. I was going through George’s personal items and noticed that he had signed up as an organ donor on his driver’s license and it just clicked. I needed something to focus on other than my pain and from that moment on, I have been steadfast in making this happen in honor of him.

What was the best part of the experience?

This takes my breath away as it is very bittersweet. Bitter obviously because if we hadn’t lost our son this never would have happened. Sweet because I literally see the "Chain of Life" grow and it will continue to grow for years to come because of my son. Even though George isn’t here on earth with me, "we" managed to do this together.

What was the most challenging part of the experience?

Being patient. My family will tell you that I have a personality that once I have my mind set on something, I want to see results immediately but with this process it takes time. It took seven months before a match was found and another three months before all of the surgeries were scheduled.

Would you recommend this type of activity to others?

Absolutely! But it is critically important that people educate themselves on all facets of this decision. You have to have a strong support team. I couldn’t have done this without the amazing support of my husband Tyler and my children. You need to be prepared for months of testing, take into consideration the amount of time you will have to take off work, be financially able to pay for your travel and the time it takes to recuperate. In addition to the physical testing, I had to go through a lot of psychological testing in order to make sure I was prepared for the best and the worst outcomes.

How is the recovery process?

Even though I was told numerous times by the Transplant Coordinator and surgeon how much pain I would be in, I just didn’t take it to heart. Now that the surgery is over and reality has set in it hurts and have no energy. I know it will continue to get better each week.

Are you in contact with the person who received your donation and the others whose lives were touched by it?

Oh yes — I have met all of the people in George’s chain of life. They have all read "George’s Story" and the reason behind the surgery so it brings so much joy in hearing how much this has changed all of their lives.

What is something that people don’t know about you?

I pretty much live my life as an open book. Probably it is that initially I start off as extremely shy and keep to myself but once I warm up to people then there is no shutting me up.

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