Southwest Fla. man dies after donating kidney to father

[Clark]

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/29254308/southwest-fla-man-dies-after-donating-kidney-to-father#.VXyOgGAbIRY


Southwest Fla. man dies after donating kidney to father

By Ty Russell



A Southwest Florida dad is talking to us for the first time about a tragedy after a life-saving operation.
70-year-old Sandy Donaldson needed a kidney. His 40-year-old son was his donor six weeks ago, but something went wrong. Donaldson's son died.
"Sons bury their fathers. In this case, I get to bury Jamie. That's not that way it's supposed to be," Donaldson said.
We received pictures from Facebook of John Donaldson. His closest friends referred to him as Jamie or a gentle giant. He saved his dad's life by giving him a kidney.
"He insisted that he was the one who wanted to give me a kidney," Donaldson said.
Weeks after the operation, Donaldson is back on his feet. He tells us his son is the reason he gets to live longer than originally anticipated.
"I have a new kidney, and I feel great," Donaldson said.
Donaldson told us doctors never expected anything to go wrong. The doctor who performed the operation at Gulf Coast Medical Center has been doing it for nearly two decades.
"He said he was doing this for 21 years and never had a donor issue," Donaldson said.
Operations in the Lee Memorial kidney transplant program have since been on hold while doctors investigate.
During this tough time, relatives have been getting some much-needed support. John's brother is thankful for it.
"We are honored that they are doing this memorial ride for Jamie," Joel Donaldson said.
Hundreds of bicyclists hit the streets of Downtown Fort Myers Friday.
People in the group Southwest Florida Critical Mass ride their bikes every month for safety awareness. But this recent one was special. Riders were dressed as clowns to honor John Donaldson.
Relatives and friends say John loved clowns. There are even several Facebook profile pictures showing his passion for clowns.
We reached out to Lee Memorial Health System for an update on the kidney program.
Spokesperson Mary Briggs gave us the following statement:
“At this time, the live donor component of kidney transplant program continues to be inactive. We do not have a timeline for reopening the program, but a program review such as this typically takes several months.
The transplant team has worked closely with the individuals on our waiting list to help determine the best option for them while the living donor component of the kidney transplant program is temporarily inactive.
At this time, we have arranged for three patients to be transferred to other transplant programs. The other 22 patients have chosen to remain in our program and wait for it to reopen. In the meantime, our deceased donor program remains open and is operating as usual.”
As for Sandy Donaldson, he hopes the program gets back up and running soon once they figure out what went wrong. But, he tells us he understands why they had to suspend operations temporarily.