Thanksgiving comes early for kidney donor and recipient who didn't know each oth

[Clark]

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/kidney_donor_and_recipient_in_upstates_first_transplant_chain_observe_an_early_t.html

Thanksgiving comes early for kidney donor and recipient who didn't know each other
By James T. Mulder

 Larry Secor of Montezuma had a kidney to spare so he donated it to a stranger he met for the first time today at Upstate University Hospital.

Before she received Secor's kidney in a transplant operation May 27, Deanna Freeman, 63, of Watertown had been on kidney dialysis for eight years.

"It was wonderful that someone is that selfless," said Freeman, a school cafeteria worker. "I thank him from the bottom of my heart."

Secor and Freeman met at Donor Sabbath, an annual celebration held at Upstate and other U.S. transplant centers before Thanksgiving to raise awareness of the need for organ donation.

Secor and Freeman were part of Upstate's first kidney transplant chain that occurred May 27 involving four patients. Doctors removed kidneys from two living donors in one operating room, then transplanted them into two recipients in an operating room next door.

What triggered the chain was a young man who contacted Upstate and said he wanted to donate a kidney to anyone who needed one. The young man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, is what transplant doctors call an altruistic donor.

"These are the angels that are willing to come forward," said Dr. Joseph Melancon, a transplant surgeon who removed the young man's kidney.

The young man's kidney was a good match for Secor's wife, Marilyn, who had been waiting two years for a transplant. Secor had wanted to donate a kidney to his wife, but blood testing showed they were not compatible.

So Melancon asked Secor if he would be willing to donate a kidney anyway to someone else. Secor agreed.

"If there is somebody out there willing to donate to my wife, why not pay it forward and give someone else a shot?" Secor said. "There was never a second thought in my mind."

There are about 350 people on the waiting list for a kidney at Upstate. Nationwide, there are about 100,000 people on the list. Some die waiting. The demand for kidney transplants has grown because of the nation's epidemic of diabetes, the most common cause of kidney failure.

Kidney failure patients who can get a kidney from a live donor tend to do much better than patients who receive kidneys from deceased donors, said Dr. Vaughn Whittaker, another surgeon who participated in the chain and sewed the donated kidneys into Marilyn Secor and Deanna Freeman.

"The results are far superior, which is why we love it when we can do this," Whittaker said.

During the celebration, Whittaker quoted the Bible passage that says, "There is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend."

He then asked a question.

"What kind of love is it when you lay down your life for someone you don't even know?"