Humble hero travels thousands of miles to donate kidney (Part 1)

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Humble hero travels thousands of miles to donate kidney (Part 1)
By Deena Centofanti - email

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) -

The rhythm and hum of the dialysis machine was the sound of Terry Phillip's survival.

"Tuesday, Thursday, Saturdays and it runs almost four hours."

The 62-year-old was cruising through life, feeling healthy, until he was shocked by a diagnosis.

"High blood pressure, many years ago, and I never knew it was happening until it was too late. My body just adapted to the kidney failure," said Phillips. "The high blood pressure's the silent killer, and it killed the kidneys."

As a machine did the job of Phillips' kidneys, filtering the toxins out of his blood, he knew if he didn't get a kidney transplant, it would be a life long sentence.

"I stay on dialysis forever, and that's how it works."

"One of my last memories of him being really healthy was our wedding," said Erica Giordano.

As she watched her dad deteriorate, her only peace came from her plan to help.

"You can have my kidney. My mom wanted to donate, too. She said, 'Oh, we have to see if I'm a match. No problem. I'll give you mine.' We were arguing over who was going to be the one to save him and help him, and it was awful to be told that you can't do anything."

Devastated by the news that neither she nor her mom could donate, Giordano called a close family friend who had moved from Michigan to Arizona, and that phone call brought new hope.

"My daughter was talking to her friend in Arizona, and her husband said he'd donate," Phillips said through tears.

He was overwhelmed. 34-year-old Ryan Losicki is a distant family acquaintance.

"As soon as I found out we were a match, I wanted to do it right away. I didn't want him to get any sicker. I didn't want him to get worse," said Losicki.

Always smiling, Losicki is the young man Phillips knew as a neighborhood kid in high school. At 17, Losicki lost his own dad, so when he heard the fear in Giordano's voice, he felt compelled to help, but he shrugs off the "hero" label.

"If I can keep a family happy and together and do a remarkable thing like this, I guess I could be."

University of Michigan transplant surgeon Randy Sung says kidneys are the most common organ to come from living donors.

"Living donor transplants are likely to last longer than transplants from a deceased donor, but even as important, if not more, is they don't have to wait for a transplant. They can get it now."

The success rate of a living donor kidney transplant is 97-percent. The concern is making sure the risks are very clear.

"We can't predict that somebody might not get a condition like high blood pressure or diabetes that might put them at risk for kidney disease later in life, and that's especially true for someone like Ryan, who's pretty young."

Phillips had no idea when he was photographed standing in the sand celebrating his daughter's wedding, years later the young man at the other end of the picture would give him another reason to celebrate.

"What do you say to somebody that donates an organ? It's tough. You can say thanks, you know, and give them a hug."

Part two of this story will take you inside the operating room where we will show you how that transplant happened and find out how what it was like when Losicki and Phillips saw each other for the first time after their surgeries. It will air Friday during Fox 2's 10:00 p.m. newscast.

Losicki is a finish carpenter, which is a phsyical job.  He will be out of work for about six weeks, so a fund has been set up at any PNC bank to help cover his expenses while he heals.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/19122953/2012/07/26/humble-hero-travels-thousands-of-miles-to-donate-kidney-part-1