Kidney donor, recipient share meaning of Christmas

Kidney donor, recipient share meaning of Christmas

Lance Griffin
lgriffin@dothaneagle.com
Dothan, Alabama

Monday, December 25, 2006

Splagchnizomai.

It is one of the Greek words translated in English as 'compassion', and the one New Testament gospel writer Matthew used to describe Jesus' reaction to a leper who asked to be healed.

Scholars say it denotes an emotion so deep it resonates in the innermost part of the being, a feeling that demands action. In a sense, someone who feels splagchnizomai toward another person cannot not act on it. It demands action.

John Phipps knows the feeling.

When news spread that a man in his church was in critical need of a kidney transplant, Phipps almost immediately felt he was being led to become the donor.

Steve Devane knew time was running out. The kidney he was given 10 years ago was used up, and doctors were measuring Devane's time in months, not years. He was humbled that - counting his extended family and the small community of Rehobeth - 100 people had taken a test to see if one of their kidneys could be used to keep Devane alive.

In the end, though, it took what Phipps calls "being obedient to a call."

Phipps is home today in Taylor, enjoying Christmas dinner with his wife April and children Alec, 7, and Gabriel, 5. He is sore. He isn't sure what his family will do for income over the next six weeks while he recuperates. Phipps said he's trusted God before when he felt led to move here from central Florida with no home, no job and no money to attend a Christian college. He's sure he was the one destined to give Devane his kidney. So it isn't the 'if' that concerns Phipps, just the uncertainty of the 'how.'

Devane is in a tiny townhouse near UAB Medical Center in Birmingham today, having his own Christmas dinner with his wife Tammy and children Bunk, 16, and Bull, 14, while he gets used to his new kidney. He said he isn't disappointed he can't be home in Rehobeth for Christmas.

"To get well and to be able to be the father and the husband I can be, I'd spend a lot more Christmases here," he said.

Called to a task

For Phipps, his path to an operating table in Birmingham began five years ago when he read a magazine article about a teacher donating a kidney to one of his students.

"I was so moved by that story, I said 'Lord, if you ever give me that opportunity, I will do it,'" he said.

The Phippses moved from Lakeland, Fla., two years ago and settled in Taylor. He enrolled at the Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, Fla., and began pursuing a degree in leadership. He picked up a job working as a subcontractor to FedEx and does some carpentry work when he can. April tends to the two children.

Phipps soon joined Rehobeth Baptist Church, where he learned about Devane's illness.

"I didn't really know Steve that well at all," Phipps said. "It was just the Lord calling me to task."

Remembering his pledge to God, Phipps tested to see if his kidney would be compatible with Devane.

No match. Wrong blood type.

Initially, Phipps agreed to a four-person kidney swap in which Devane would receive a compatible kidney from a stranger in exchange for Phipps donating his kidney to a compatible stranger in need.

But after doctors re-checked Phipps' bloodwork, they determined they had made an error and he was a perfect match for Devane.

"Just a providential work of God," Phipps said.

The procedure was performed a week ago, and doctors say it went well. Because Phipps is in the delivery business and doctors won't allow him to lift anything for several weeks, he will be out of work through February.

Humbled in every way

Devane has been severely diabetic since he was 7. He received his first kidney 10 years ago, but as it began to fail several months ago, his energy left. Soon. His skin color turned to an ashen-gray. He was on a donor list at UAB and Tampa General Hospital, but no match had been found.

"It was getting pretty bad," he said. "When you have kidney disease, all the blood levels were out of whack. It takes a toll on the body and a toll on the mind."

What made it worse for the mind was that Devane knew exactly what was happening to him. Before his first transplant, he performed CT scans at a local hospital. He was intimately aware of the vital function the kidney plays in keeping the blood clean.

Then Phipps came along.

"The way it all happened, I mean it just humbles you in every way," he said.

Devane's family noticed an immediate difference after the procedure last week. Bunk told his dad it looked like he had been in a tanning bed because all of the color began to return to his skin.

"I feel like a new man," he said. "I have so much energy now. It feels almost like I was given a miracle drug."

Rehobeth Baptist Church pastor Rev. Travis Free said the story of John and Steve makes the Christmas story come alive.

"Sacrificial giving, one to another," he said.

Anyone interested in helping defray expenses and filling in lost income for the Phippses can contact Rehobeth Baptist Church at 677-5893.

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