Breckenridge woman in need of kidney transplant, getting help from Eagle residen

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Helping Hands: Raising money to save a life
Breckenridge woman in need of kidney transplant, getting help from Eagle resident
By Kathryn Corazzelli

More Info
To donate
>   Donation checks can be made out to: Rotary Club
of Summit County, Charitable Fund, P.O. Box 4401, Frisco, CO 80443. Include memo note: Mavy Del Vilar Fund
>   Folks needing more information can contact
Hickey at (970) 376-4563 or rfhickey@innovativestrategies.org
 
 ENLARGE
Breckenridge resident Mavy Del Vilar is in need of a kidney transplant, something Eagle resident Robert Hickey is hoping to raise $40,000 to help her with.

Breckenridge resident Mavy Del Vilar's kidneys failed in 2001.

She had a tough run before and after that: She was diagnosed with lupus in 1993, a disease she used to be given chemotherapy for, and suffered a stroke seven years ago. Now, Del Vilar receives dialysis in Lakewood — when she can make it down. Sometimes, winter weather and a lack of gas money prevent her from being able to get the treatment she needs. Her absence, in turn, hurts her chances for further care.

“Because of that she's considered a non-compliant patient, and she can't get a transplant,” said Eagle resident Robert Hickey.

Hickey is working to change Del Vilar's situation. He's hoping to raise enough money with the help of the Rotary Club of Summit County, and the media, to raise $40,000 — $35,000 for the surgery, and $5,000 for travel costs for Del Vilar and her son, who takes care of her on a daily basis.

The amount might sound like a lot, but it's not. In the United States, the surgery costs around $170,000, Hickey said, which includes the price of a kidney: about $45,000. But Del Vilar, originally from Mexico, has the option of going back to the country of her birth. Organs are readily available in Mexico because once a person dies, organs are immediately donated unless someone expressed wishes to the contrary. It's the opposite of the system in the United States, where someone has to sign up for organ donation. Del Vilar, a legal U.S. resident, would be able to get surgery in Mexico right away from one of the country's top surgeons, spend a month rehabbing, and come back to Summit County to live, according to Hickey.

Waiting for help
This isn't the first time Hickey has helped someone get a kidney transplant. He has actually done it 131 times before — all in the past seven years. Hickey doesn't have a nonprofit, but accomplishes everything with the help of Rotary clubs across the country. The system allows all funds raised to go directly to the patient — Hickey pays all of his own expenses out-of-pocket — while the clubs contribute to their mission of “service above self.”

Hickey's own mission to help others started following his kidney transplant in 2004. After enduring kidney cancer, a removal, four-and-a-half years of dialysis and no transplant in sight, Hickey made the decision to stop his treatments, which would ultimately end his life. In a stroke of fate, he found out about matchingdonors.com, a service that matched living donors with those in need. Hickey signed up, and found a donor soon after.

Hickey's unusual set-up made the news — which at first, made the doctor unwilling to perform the surgery — and made him a bit of a celebrity.

“Thousands of people contacted me who needed transplants,” he said.

Hickey collected more and more stories, and frustrated with an expensive and sometimes unattainable system, started working to help others.

“Eighteen people a day die waiting for kidneys,” he said. “The transplant system works well if you're one of the ones that gets the transplant.”

A new life
If everything goes well, Hickey hopes to raise the $40,000 for Del Vilar in six months.

“He mentioned that to me yesterday,” Del Vilar said. “I'm so happy. Hopefully my life can be better, and I can go back to work and help my son.”

Del Vilar's son Bryann, 20, dropped out of high school (he later obtained a degree), just to help his mother. She is unable to work, and he can only work part-time in order to take care of his ailing mother and drive her to dialysis. Her situation is holding her son back, Del Vilar said, and she wants to see him go to college and “take time for himself to do what he's dreaming of.” Bryann hopes to become a police officer someday, she said.

“All this time, he has been my only help. He's a wonderful son,” Del Vilar said. “I just hope that I can go back to being like a normal mom. Not the other way around, where my son is taking care of me ... if I get okay, I know he will be happier.”

Before Hickey came along, Del Vilar said she had no hope of getting a transplant. She thanks him, and anyone else who helps her out in the future.

“To me, he's like an angel,” she said of Hickey. “I feel really, really lucky. I'm blessed to have his help.”

http://www.summitdaily.com/ARTICLE/20120412/NEWS/120419969/-1/RSS