Camp lessons save a life through organ donation

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Camp lessons save a life through organ donation
TRACIE SIMER - The Jackson Sun (AP)
Posted May 20, 2012 at 1 a.m.

JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) — Lessons two young women learned at a youth camp didn't just bring them together — those lessons helped save a life through organ donation.

Rachel Summerlin, 22, and Jasmin Williams, 23, are both graduates of and staff at the Tennessee Teen Institute, a camp for youth ages 13 to 18 from across the state. The camp's goal is to teach teens alternatives to drug and alcohol abuse, said Barry Cooper, director of JACOA, which helps organize TTI every year.

Those lessons about drug- and alcohol-free living stuck with both, particularly Summerlin. Because she had a healthy body, she was able to donate a kidney earlier this year to Williams.

"The whole gist of us meeting and the reason I could give a kidney is because in my freshman year of high school, I had a drug problem," Summerlin said. "TTI came into my life my sophomore year and changed me. I got stubborn about my decisions because you sign a year-long contract at TTI saying you won't use or abuse drugs or alcohol. And I don't break contracts. If I hadn't stopped, I wouldn't have been able to give, or even meet Jasmin in the first place."

In 2009, Williams was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, but doctors didn't know why the otherwise-healthy young woman's kidneys were failing. The disease is normally caused by diabetes or high blood pressure and Williams had neither, she said. She went on dialysis and the organ transplant list soon afterward. She lost 130 pounds.

"I was on dialysis for three years," she said. "My doctors don't know why my kidneys just stopped working."

Her illness was something she kept private. When she attended her first TTI camp in 2010, she told no one except for a couple of staff members so she could leave for her daily four-hour dialysis. She did the same thing at last year's TTI.

"I just didn't want to be treated as special for this, so I didn't tell anyone," she said.

Being on the organ transplant list caused some conflicting emotions, Williams said.

"I was waiting for someone else to die and I didn't like that. So I prayed to God that he would bring me someone who could be a living organ donor," she said.

That's when Summerlin showed up. Kristi Townes, director of TTI, said last year was the first time JACOA held a fall staff retreat, to get the students motivated for next year's camp.

"It was by a complete fluke that this happened," she said. "Jasmin wasn't supposed to be at the retreat, but a last-minute cancellation allowed her to come. And we'd never had one of these retreats before. That's how they got to this point — this happened for a reason."

Williams was giving herself home dialysis treatments on a smaller machine, which she left in her cabin at the retreat. Summerlin walked in on her in the middle of dialysis and asked what was wrong. At first, Williams said "nothing."

"Rachel saw me and asked what was up. So I told her I was on dialysis," she said. "And she was like, 'What can I do to help you?' And I said, 'I need a kidney.' She said, 'Take mine.'"

Summerlin said it was a fast — and easy — decision. She wasted no time once she got home from camp to call Vanderbilt Medical Center to be tested as a match.

"I did it because at TTI, we're family," she said. "I didn't think twice about it. The next Monday, I went to get tested."

A week later, she got the results back: She was a match. Her first thought after a quick celebration was scheduling the surgery. But the hospital's transplant committee had to meet and approve the procedure first. So Summerlin called Williams on Dec. 26 to tell her the news.

"I got the call the day after Christmas. They let Rachel call me to tell me, which was great," she said. "It was a good Christmas present. I remember screaming into the phone and then thinking I had to call Ms. Kristi."

On March 27, Williams received a new kidney. She and Summerlin were in the same hospital and their rooms were next to each other. The day before surgery, both women spent time at Wal-Mart, buying coloring books and crossword puzzle books to keep them entertained in the hospital.

The morning of the procedure, they were both up early — too excited to sleep. Everything went well, Williams said.

"The doctors said the kidney immediately started working. Usually they have to wait an hour or two to see how it's going," she said. "And at first, I had to take seven pills a day after surgery. Now I take just one pill twice a day. It's my rejection pill and that's all I have to take."

Upon hearing that news, Summerlin high-fived her friend.

"They predicted she would have to take at least two pills every day for the rest of her life," Summerlin said. "So that's just awesome."

Townes said camp organizers hope both women can share their story at this year's TTI, which is June 10-15. Since they met at TTI and applied life lessons from the camp, the story has a deeper meaning, she said.

"Their story spilled over into other TTIs in Ohio, Kentucky, all over," she said. "We had people asking us for updates and to hear the story."

Williams is a junior at Lane College with plans to attend medical school in Memphis. She dreams of being a pediatric nephrologist so she can work with children who have kidney disease.

"If I hadn't listened at TTI and started doing drugs, I wouldn't be allowed to go on the transplant list," she said. "And if I was on drugs or alcohol, then my liver would've failed, too. But here I am, and I'm happy. Now I can do whatever I want."

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/may/20/camp-lessons-save-a-life-through-organ-donation/