Cheviot woman (dialysis tech) donates kidney to father next Tuesday

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Cheviot woman (dialysis tech) donates kidney to father next Tuesday

Posted: 01/19/2011
By: Annette Peagler

CHEVIOT, Ohio - A Cheviot woman is giving her father a second chance at life by donating one of her kidneys to him next Tuesday.

Tears flowed through Liberty Dialysis Center in Norwood Wednesday, after speaking with Jennifer Burriss and her father Jerry, who has been on the waiting list for a kidney for the past three years.

Jennifer is a dialysis technician, who helps patients cope daily with their renal failure. She never thought the next person she'd help would be her dad.

"This man has done everything for me over my entire life, not only my entire life, but my 20-year-old daughter's life. If it wasn't for him and my mom, my daughter is just a wonderful person because of them and I could never pay that back," Jennifer said.

The surgery will take place next week.

"It should be the other way around," Jerry Burriss said. "But it wasn't...you bring you're children in the world. They all you got."

Jerry has had renal failure for five years.

"It's more of a gift to me than I think it is to him. It's a great opportunity, it's a blessing to be able to do this," Jennifer said.

Her donation couldn't have come at a better time. There are over 100,000 people waiting for kidney transplants.

Nearly 2,000 of those are in the Cincinnati area.

"If you've got 2,000 people and there are only 140 transplants in our city, what people end up doing is going shopping for a transplant," Jerry said.

Luckily, Jerry didn't have to look for long. It was his own daughter, who stepped up to the plate.

"It will make me feel amazing when he feels better, that's when I'll feel amazing," Jennifer said.

http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/region_west_cincinnati/cheviot/cheviot-woman-donates-kidney-to-father-next-tuesday