If your loved one needs a kidney, just being willing to donate isn't enough. You have to be compatible, but if you're not, you can still increase the odds that your loved one receives a kidney by donating to someone else through a unique kidney exchange program. 7Healthcast Reporter Dr. Deanna Lites has more.
To give you an example of how this type of program works, last month for the first time in Massachusetts, three people received kidneys from three donors in simultaneous transplant operations at Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Today, we got the chance to meet the donors and recipients.
"I donated my kidney to Ryan," Lisa Dubois said.
Before that, Dubois didn't know Ryan Clifford.
"I didn't know who he was. I didn't know anything about it. I just knew he was a 21-year-old boy who needed it," Dubois said.
Her kind act set off a life saving chain reaction of sorts. You see, Ryan's mom, Collette, wasn't a match for her son. So, she decided if she couldn't help her son she'd help someone else. She donated a kidney to Rene Ravenelle after it turned out his brother, Robert, was incompatible.
"I'd like to take a moment to thank Robert," Chris Santamaria said.
And Robert Ravenelle in turn donated a kidney to Santamaria.
"Three people got a new life, three people and that's huge," Collette Clifford said.
Doctors were able to match donors and recipients and perform the simultaneous surgeries through a kidney exchange program.
"What this program does using advanced computer models and mathematics is it allows that willing but medically incompatible donor to donate to somebody else by matching them up. This allows us to transplant patients who otherwise would have to go on the deceased donor waiting list and wait a long time for a kidney," Richard Luskin, of the New England Organ Bank, said.
A month ago most of these people were strangers. Now, they are forever bonded and grateful to a Good Samaritan named Lisa Dubois that got the ball rolling.
"To me, she is the total angel here. When I met her, I broke down and hugged her. She gave new life to my son," Collette Clifford said.
The donors said there wasn't much pain involved. In fact, Robert Ravenelle said he had shoulder surgery that hurt more. Right now, there are more than 70,000 people in this country waiting for a kidney transplant.
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