Families celebrating 2 lives -- 1 lost, 1 saved
Endwell firefighter's kidney a lifesaver for Illinois womanCHUCK HAUPT / Press & Sun-Bulletin
8-12-07
In October, a piece of Brian Forrest traveled 750 miles to save a life. This weekend, it made a return trip.
On Friday, Forrest's family met the Illinois woman who received his kidney, which was donated after he was killed in October in a motorcycle crash. About two years after a doctor told Brenda Dreyer she had kidney disease and should begin making her final preparations, two families came together to celebrate two lives -- one lost and one saved.
Dreyer, her husband Dwayne, and 17-year-old daughter Mallory flew in Friday to meet the Forrest family and many of Forrest's fellow Endwell firefighters. On Saturday, at a barbecue at the Forrests' home in Chenango Forks, Dreyer and Forrest's widow talked about Brian Forrest and their burgeoning friendship.
"It's going to be a lifelong friendship now," Denise Forrest said.
Brian Forrest, 45, a 20-year volunteer firefighter in Endwell, died Oct. 7 after he lost control and crashed his motorcycle a few days earlier on Struble Road. His kidney was flown overnight to a hospital in St. Louis, where Dreyer was found to be a perfect match.
Dreyer had been on the national kidney transplant list for 21 months. Before the surgery, she was undergoing eight hours of dialysis each night -- a consequence of IgA nephropathy, also known as autoimmune kidney disease.
The surgery was a rousing success, Dreyer said. "I had no complications; it was just textbook," she said.
Since the surgery, Dreyer has turned 50 and attended her son's wedding -- milestones that two years ago she wasn't sure she'd reach.
The women -- one saved by the death of the other's husband -- called the meeting "bittersweet." They began corresponding almost immediately after Dreyer received the kidney.
"(My husband) lives on through her," Denise Forrest said.
Both women said their story highlights the need for organ donors. The Forrests hadn't discussed the organ donor designation on Brian Forrest's driver's license before his accident, but his wife didn't hesitate to approve the donation when doctors at Wilson Regional Medical Center said he was brain-dead.
"It just seemed like the obvious thing to do," Denise Forrest said.
Many of Brian Forrest's other organs also were donated, his wife said. The family recently heard from a man who received Forrest's corneas. He told Denise Forrest the surgery enabled him to see his grandson for the first time.
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070812/NEWS01/708120339
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