Niece saves uncle by donating kidney

Niece saves uncle by donating kidney

By JENNIFER COLTON/Index-Journal staff writer
Published: Sunday, December 9, 2007 11:44 PM EST

“How can you say no when you have the opportunity to prolong somebody’s life?” Kenyetta Crawford, 26, of Promised Land, asked Wednesday when talking about why she chose to sacrifice a piece of her body to save her uncle.

On Nov. 20, the former Miss Black Greenwood donated one of her kidneys to Moses Carter, 42, of Greenwood, who had been on dialysis for two and a half years after both his kidneys failed because of diabetes and high blood pressure.

Although Carter was on a kidney donor list, Crawford was tested and approved as a potential kidney donor.

“Most people on the donor list take two to five years, or longer, to get a kidney,” Crawford said. “I just felt that if anyone deserved a kidney, it would be my uncle. I’m big on family, and if you can’t help your family, who can you help?”

Crawford works for the Burton Center for Disabilities, is married with one daughter and said she never thought she would donate a kidney to anyone.

“I’m not a person who takes pain, and it was painful, but I got through it,” she said. “But yesterday made it two weeks, and if I need anything for the pain, I just take regular Tylenol. It’s still sore, but everything went good, it went real good.”

With kidney transplants, donors have to be in good health, and the potential donor screening involves a four-step process for the donor, according to information from the Medial College of Georgia Health System, who performed Carter’s transplant.

In the first step, compatibility tests are performed on the donor and recipient’s blood. Various results, including if the recipient’s blood serum kills the donor’s white blood cells, will make the potential donor ineligible for the transplant.

If the donor passes step one, they move on to step two: lab evaluation of kidney function and overall health. Step three puts the donor through more specific tests, including X-rays, ultrasounds and an EKG.

In the final step, the donor visits with a donor nephrologist, the doctor who formally clears the person as a potential donor, and undergoes a CT scan to determine the best surgical approach.

Crawford said she started the testing process in February.

“I wasn’t the first one to get tested in the family,” she said. “He had a brother get tested, but it didn’t work out. I learned about it as I was going through the process. Every transplant is different, but they gave me an idea of what to expect.”

Carter, who works in a local warehouse, continued his 12-hour shifts through the entire sickness.

“He worked all the way up to the day of the surgery,” Carter’s wife, Stella, said. “If you didn’t know he was on dialysis, you couldn’t tell.”

When asked if he had any advice for people waiting on donor lists, Carter said not to give up hope.

“For the people on dialysis, treat it like you have to brush your teeth. Do what you got to do. Don’t get frustrated, and don’t give up,” he said.

Both Carter and Crawford said they have had no complications from the surgery and are recovering. Crawford said having one kidney probably won’t affect her.

“As long as I take care of myself, I can have a healthy, long life,” Crawford said. “I’m still able to give birth and everything, as long as I take care of myself. It’s not like I’m losing any part of my life.”

For Carter, the experience has been life-changing.

“When all this happened, I told my wife that I was going down to become a donor. If something happens to me, I want to be a donor,” Carter said. “I owe my life to (Crawford). I could never repay her. She did something for me that words can’t explain. She saved my life.”

http://www.indexjournal.com/articles/2007/12/10/news/news03.txt

PHOTO: Kenyetta Crawford and Moses Carter pose for photos before undergoing an operation to transplant Crawford’s left kidney to Carter.