Life-Saving Strangers
After One Kidney Was Incompatible, Eager Donor Found Recipient and Spurred More Transplants
By BARBARA PINTO
July 26, 2007
A domino-like series of kidney transplants across the country first started with Matt Jones, a 28-year-old father of four.
Last week, he made the unusual decision to donate his kidney to a complete stranger.
“You only need one to survive,” Jones explained, “and there’s a lot of other people out there who could use the other one you have.”
After running his information through a nationwide database, doctors found a match for Matt’s kidney in Barbara Bunnell — a grandmother from Phoenix, Ariz., who has battled kidney disease her entire life. (For information on the database contact www.paireddonation.org)
The hereditary kidney disorder she suffered from claimed her mother and her grandmother in their mid 50s. Her husband, Ron, had hoped to donate his kidney to his wife, but tests showed he wasn’t a good match.
“The fact that she gets this kidney, we’ll grow old together,” said Ron Bunnell. “We’ll see our grandchildren grow up. It’s just a miraculous gift.”
Gift Keeps on Giving
His wife’s gift has led Ron Bunnell to the University of Toledo Medical Center, where he sat in a hospital bed ready for surgery. “I’ve transcended the nervousness. I’m totally relaxed,” he told ABC’s Barbara Pinto while glancing over at the woman in the hospital bed across the room.
She is Angie Heckman — a virtual stranger until a few weeks ago — who was just hours away from receiving Ron’s donated kidney.
Angie has spent most of her 32 years on dialysis. She was diagnosed with kidney disease at a young age, and spent 12 hours a week hooked to the blood-cleansing machinery to stay alive. She is also on drugs to control her blood pressure, which has skyrocketed as the result of her kidney disease. To Angie, Ron’s gift is overwhelming.
“We don’t know each other and he wants to help so his wife could be well. He’s just passing it on,” she said, her eyes welling with tears.
“This is the first day of the rest of her life,” said Angie’s mother, Laurie Sarvo, nervously pacing the room.
Computers Bring Donors Together
This first-ever chain of transplants is not only the result of amazing generosity — but of something called paired donation. A potential donor who wants to give a kidney to a friend or loved one, but is not a biological match can now be paired with an appropriate recipient. A computer program connects donors and kidney patients nationwide.
In this case, the computer matched Matt, who lives in Michigan, with Barb, from Arizona. Her husband, Ron, who was not a suitable donor for his wife, was perfect for Angie in Toledo. And now, Angie’s mother, Laurie Sarvo, who was not a match for her daughter, will soon give her kidney to another perfect stranger — touching off a chain of six more transplants.
“The simplest way to explain it is ‘paying it forward’ when it comes to organ transplantation,” said Dr. Michael Rees, medical director of the Alliance for Paired Donation.
“The future that I see in America is there will no longer be such a thing as a willing incompatible donor,” added Dr Rees. “If you’re willing, we’re going to get you a transplant.”
While a family member is usually best, doctors say in some cases a stranger can be an even better match. That means fewer life-threatening complications, and more lives saved.
And a kidney from a living donor, as opposed to a cadaver donor, will also last longer — 16 years, as opposed to eight, according to Rees.
For Angie Heckman, this is a new beginning.
“There are not even words to say how thankful I am,” she said to Ron — the man she calls her “guardian angel.”
“I don’t want her to pay me back,” Ron replied. “I just want to keep it going. Keep the chain going.”
That is the hope among doctors and patients — that this cascade of lifesaving miracles, sparked by one selfless act of kindness — will continue indefinitely.
For more information on paired donors: www.paireddonation.org
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