A really touching true story of hope and altruistic giving.
-------------------------
The Straits Times
22 Aug 2008
Chain of hope
An altruistic act sparks world's first string of kidney donations
By Bhagyashree Garekar
WASHINGTON: When Mr Matt Jones donated a kidney to a perfect stranger last year, he had no idea he was sparking off a series of events that would lead to 10 transplants within a year. 'I thought I was helping one person in need. It turned out to be more than that,' said Mr Jones, a 29-year-old father of five from the small town of Petoskey in Michigan.
His act of kindness was multiplied manifold by a two-year-old organisation devoted to finding matches for live kidney transplants. A game-theory scientist came up with an algorithm last year to efficiently perform the seemingly simple but staggeringly tricky task of matching patients with donors.
The result is called the Never-Ending Altruistic Donor chain (Nead). It is a pioneering effort that aims to cut short the waiting time for thousands of American kidney patients on the transplant list.
'Right now, we have an 11th donor willing to donate her kidney but she is a rarer blood type so we are still working out a match for her,' said Ms Laurie Reece, the executive director of the Ohio-based Alliance for Paired Donation (APD).
'We also started a second chain of transplants last December when another altruistic donor stepped forward. Next month, a third chain will begin. Altogether, we have seven altruistic donors willing to start chains as soon as a match is found.'
It all began when Mr Jones, a manager at a car rental firm, saw a television news item on kidney donation three years ago. 'I used to think you could only donate after death,' he said. 'When I learnt that I needed only one kidney to function, I decided straightaway that I would donate.'
Kindness is second nature to Mr Jones. Ever since he turned 17, he has followed his mother's example in donating blood several times a year.
His fiancee Meghan was aghast when she learnt of his decision. After all, kidney removal is major surgery that leaves three in every 10,000 donors dead.
And what if his second kidney were to fail later in life? Or if one of his children were to need a kidney transplant some day?
'She went nuts and tried to talk me out of it, but I had already pledged to do it and I am a man of my word,' he said.
Two attempts last year to hook him up with a recipient failed. Then, the APD found him online while looking for a kidney for Ms Barbara Bunnell, a 53-year-old grandmother with incurable polycystic kidney disorder.
On July 18, Mr Jones went to Phoenix, Arizona and his kidney was transplanted into Ms Bunnell.
Nead then kicked in to trigger a chain of transplants where, in the past, things would have ended with one grateful recipient matched with an altruistic donor.
Eight days after his wife received the kidney, Mr Ron Bunnell travelled to Toledo, Ohio to donate his kidney to 32-year-old Angie Heckman, who had been on dialysis since she was 21. Mr Bunnell had wanted to donate to his wife but was an incompatible match.
In the weeks that followed, subsequent pairs of recipients and their willing-but-incompatible donors underwent operations that resulted in the 10th transplant in March.
The idea of a donors' chain is gaining ground and, last month, the New York Presbyterian Hospital peformed a four-way kidney swop that began with an altruistic donor stepping forward to donate his kidney.
More than 75,000 Americans are on a transplant list and 12 of them die each day waiting for a kidney. Last year, there were 17,000 transplants, 7,000 of which were from living donors.
In Singapore, 563 people are on the waiting list for a kidney. There were 88 live transplants last year and 46 until May.
Living donor kidneys are the best because they have a 95- to 97-per-cent success rate and last an average of 16 years. By comparison, a dead donor's kidneys are good for only eight years.
Not satisfied with just giving a kidney, Mr Jones now encourages others to do the same. When he rents out a car, he looks for a tiny heart icon on the driving licence that says that the driver has agreed to donate his organs upon death.
'I tell my customer, you don't have to wait to do your act of kindness,' he said. 'You can donate now. I did.'
-------------------------
The Straits Times
22 Aug 2008
Chain of hope
An altruistic act sparks world's first string of kidney donations
By Bhagyashree Garekar
WASHINGTON: When Mr Matt Jones donated a kidney to a perfect stranger last year, he had no idea he was sparking off a series of events that would lead to 10 transplants within a year. 'I thought I was helping one person in need. It turned out to be more than that,' said Mr Jones, a 29-year-old father of five from the small town of Petoskey in Michigan.
His act of kindness was multiplied manifold by a two-year-old organisation devoted to finding matches for live kidney transplants. A game-theory scientist came up with an algorithm last year to efficiently perform the seemingly simple but staggeringly tricky task of matching patients with donors.
The result is called the Never-Ending Altruistic Donor chain (Nead). It is a pioneering effort that aims to cut short the waiting time for thousands of American kidney patients on the transplant list.
'Right now, we have an 11th donor willing to donate her kidney but she is a rarer blood type so we are still working out a match for her,' said Ms Laurie Reece, the executive director of the Ohio-based Alliance for Paired Donation (APD).
'We also started a second chain of transplants last December when another altruistic donor stepped forward. Next month, a third chain will begin. Altogether, we have seven altruistic donors willing to start chains as soon as a match is found.'
It all began when Mr Jones, a manager at a car rental firm, saw a television news item on kidney donation three years ago. 'I used to think you could only donate after death,' he said. 'When I learnt that I needed only one kidney to function, I decided straightaway that I would donate.'
Kindness is second nature to Mr Jones. Ever since he turned 17, he has followed his mother's example in donating blood several times a year.
His fiancee Meghan was aghast when she learnt of his decision. After all, kidney removal is major surgery that leaves three in every 10,000 donors dead.
And what if his second kidney were to fail later in life? Or if one of his children were to need a kidney transplant some day?
'She went nuts and tried to talk me out of it, but I had already pledged to do it and I am a man of my word,' he said.
Two attempts last year to hook him up with a recipient failed. Then, the APD found him online while looking for a kidney for Ms Barbara Bunnell, a 53-year-old grandmother with incurable polycystic kidney disorder.
On July 18, Mr Jones went to Phoenix, Arizona and his kidney was transplanted into Ms Bunnell.
Nead then kicked in to trigger a chain of transplants where, in the past, things would have ended with one grateful recipient matched with an altruistic donor.
Eight days after his wife received the kidney, Mr Ron Bunnell travelled to Toledo, Ohio to donate his kidney to 32-year-old Angie Heckman, who had been on dialysis since she was 21. Mr Bunnell had wanted to donate to his wife but was an incompatible match.
In the weeks that followed, subsequent pairs of recipients and their willing-but-incompatible donors underwent operations that resulted in the 10th transplant in March.
The idea of a donors' chain is gaining ground and, last month, the New York Presbyterian Hospital peformed a four-way kidney swop that began with an altruistic donor stepping forward to donate his kidney.
More than 75,000 Americans are on a transplant list and 12 of them die each day waiting for a kidney. Last year, there were 17,000 transplants, 7,000 of which were from living donors.
In Singapore, 563 people are on the waiting list for a kidney. There were 88 live transplants last year and 46 until May.
Living donor kidneys are the best because they have a 95- to 97-per-cent success rate and last an average of 16 years. By comparison, a dead donor's kidneys are good for only eight years.
Not satisfied with just giving a kidney, Mr Jones now encourages others to do the same. When he rents out a car, he looks for a tiny heart icon on the driving licence that says that the driver has agreed to donate his organs upon death.
'I tell my customer, you don't have to wait to do your act of kindness,' he said. 'You can donate now. I did.'
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment