Living Organ Donor Anniversaries for December 2024! Seventy years! Wow!

[Clark]

https://livingdonorsonline.org/donor-experiences/donation-anniversaries/

  It was an honor to be able to represent the “modern” era of living donation at the fiftieth anniversary celebration of Ron Herrick’s donation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in December, 2004. I was able to thank Ron personally for going first and showing us all that it could be done. I was a year and half out of my donation surgery at the time.

  Note the patterns in these memorial messages, the rise of liver donations, the rise of unrelated donor-recipient pairs, the rise of paired and chain donations, and the drop off in participation of our website with the advent of social media. All are welcome to send us a message to be included if you wish to be. Best wishes all, and thank you for continuing to demonstrate amazing altruism!

Seventieth anniversary:
Ronald Herrick donated a kidney to his brother on December 23rd, 1954, the first successful solid organ transplant. Ron died at age 79 on December 27th, 2010. Ron was the first living organ donor, to his twin brother, Richard. Joseph Murray, the plastic surgeon who convinced them and their surgical teams that he had figured a way around the immune response, received the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Forty-first anniversary:
Jann K. Armantrout donated a kidney to sibling Mark J. Armantrout on December 12th, 1983

Thirty-ninth anniversary:
Robert A. Hancox donated a kidney to his sister on December 11th, 1985

Thirty-third anniversary:
Juanita DeVeaux donated a kidney to her daughter on December 4th, 1991

Thirtieth anniversary:
Natalie Cardoza donated a kidney to her sister on December 21st, 1994

Twenty-ninth anniversary:
Emmitt Lee Lewis donated a kidney to his little brother, Glen, on December 8th, 1995. Emmitt's daughter, Deborah Lewis-Grimes, says they were the first African-American living donor-recipient siblings in the US.
Sheila Leander donated a kidney to her husband, Brian, on December 27th, 1995

Twenty-eighth anniversary:
Gregory F. Welsh donated bone marrow to Maria Hall on December 6th, 1996

Twenty-fifth anniversary:
Heather Roberts donated a kidney to her father in December, 1999. He died in 2012, with kidney function still good.
Cheryl McCullough donated part of her liver to her husband on December 14th, 1999

Twenty-third anniversary:
Phillip Ondler donated a kidney to his sister on December 14th, 2001
Bob Jauch donated part on his liver to his daughter on December 20th, 2001
Janice O'Connell donated a kidney to friend on December 26th, 2001

Twenty-second anniversary:
Bill Shummel donated a kidney anonymously on December 17th, 2002

Twenty-first anniversary:
Micheline donated a kidney to a friend on December 5th, 2003
Kevin donated part of his liver to his father on December 8th, 2003
Barbara Sher Cohen donated a kidney to her brother on December 9th, 2003
Larry Miller donated a kidney to his daughter on December 16th, 2003
Melanie Wallace donated a kidney to a stranger on December 16th, 2003
Kathryn Jones donated part of her liver to a friend on December 18th, 2003.  Her friend died two months later.
Bev donated a kidney to a stranger on December 23, 2003
Elizabeth A. Miller donated a kidney to a friend on December 30th, 2003
Lisa Ornelas donated a kidney to her sister on December 30th, 2003

Twentieth anniversary:
Sarah Wright donated a kidney to her brother on December 1st, 2004
Becky Livingston donated a kidney to her cousin on December 12th, 2004

Nineteenth anniversary:
Mary Kirk donated a kidney to her brother-in-law on December 6th, 2005
Peggy Espinoza donated a kidney to her sister, Gloria, on December 6th, 2005
Charlotte Buckley donated a kidney to a friend's mother on December 7th, 2005
Jay Paustian donated a kidney to a friend on December 13th, 2005
Amanda Gedraitis donated a kidney anonymously on December 15th, 2005
Coleen Damon donated a kidney to her mother on December 27th, 2005
Doug Boston donated a kidney to an unrelated recipient on December 28th, 2005

Eighteenth anniversary:
Meghan McGrail donated a kidney to her uncle, Danny Cavicchi, on December 5th, 2006
Rick Hodgkins donated a kidney to his mother on December 7th, 2006
Brian Earnshaw donated a kidney to his uncle on December 12th, 2006
Wayne Ellenberger donated a kidney to a stranger on December 12th, 2006
Billie Ward donated part of her liver to an unrelated recipient on December 22nd, 2006
Mary Lou Hery donated a kidney to her daughter on December 22, 2006
Lisa donated a kidney to her daughter on December 27th, 2006

Seventeenth anniversary:
Louise in Canada donated a kidney to an anonymous unrelated recipient on December 3rd, 2007
Sylvia Toler donated a kidney to her husband, Steve, on December 4th, 2007
Connie Watts donated to her cousin on December 7th, 2007
Christine Robinson made a non-directed donation on December 11th, 2007
Brett Menzy donated a kidney to an unrelated recipient on December 18th, 2007
Eric Savage donated a kidney to his father on December 18th, 2007

Sixteenth anniversary:
Craig Tohill donated a kidney to his Aunt Sue on December 7th, 2008
Tom Moore donated a kidney to his brother on December 9th, 2008
Joshua donated a kidney to a stranger on December 10th, 2008
Philip R. Knisely donated a kidney to his co-worker, Jose Luis Vara, Jr., on December 30th, 2008

Fifteenth anniversary:
Rob Upham donated a kidney to Sandra Erice on December 7th, 2009
Pamela Hull donated a kidney in the 2009 Georgetown exchange (one of 13 donors) so her cousin could receive a kidney on December 8th, 2009
Bill Martinez donated a kidney to his cousin, Nicholas, on December 9th, 2009
Kimberly Jensen donated a kidney to an unrelated person, Bill Flitton, on December 9th, 2009
Matt Knowles donated a kidney to his wife on December 9th, 2009
Gina Mingrone became a non-directed donor in the New England Paired Kidney Exchange (NEPKE) on December 15th, 2009, initiating a chain of donors and recipients from Maine to New Jersey and back!
Kara Lucca donated a kidney as 1 of 13 donors in a nationwide chain on December 17th, 2009, while her husband was 1 of 13 recipients
Lori Wagner donated a kidney to her father on December 29th, 2009

Fourteenth anniversary:
Ellie started a non-directed kidney donor chain on December 16th, 2010

Thirteenth anniversary:
Jody Woodward made a non-directed kidney donation on December 8th, 2011
Curtis donated a kidney in a chain on December 12th, 2011
Stephanie Marie donated a kidney to Selina, an unrelated person, on December 13th, 2011
Jane donated a kidney to her brother Tom on December 14th, 2011
Lisa Goldberg donated a kidney to her father, Larry Berg, on December 15th, 2011
Kris Oien donated a kidney to Clifford, an unrelated person, on December 16th, 2011
TG Gordon donated a kidney to her brother on December 16th, 2011

Twelfth anniversary:
Harjit Dhahan Hallan donated a kidney on December 10th, 2012
Charlotte Fox donated a kidney to her 6 year old daughter on December 13th, 2012
Donna Aronne donated a kidney to her husband on December 13th, 2012
Renee Romero donated a kidney to her father, Wendell Douberly, on December 21st, 2012

Eleventh anniversary:
Melissa Vizenor made an unrelated kidney donation to Rachel on December 2nd, 2013
Michaela donated a kidney to a stranger, Kieron, now a best friend, on December 5th, 2013
Sarah Beecher donated a kidney to her son on December 5th. 2013
Lisa Tabor McCrea donated a kidney to Ellen Garner, found on matchingdonors.com, on December 13th, 2013
Joyce Anne donated a kidney to her older sister, Joanna, on December 16th, 2013
Kevin Slifka donated a kidney to his nephew on December 17th, 2013
Alex Wollangk donated a kidney to an unrelated person, Ron Schwalbach, on December 19th, 2013
Cynthia Hawkins Lindell was a non directed kidney donor on December 19th, 2013
Karen Whiteford donated a kidney to her brother, Thomas Mercier, on December 20th, 2013
David Taylor donated a kidney to his son, Dale, on December 23rd, 2013

Tenth anniversary:
Lynn Bolduc was a non directed kidney donor on December 8th, 2014
Laura R. Friedeberg donated a kidney to her mother, Ursula, on December 17th, 2014

Eighth anniversary:
Rebecca O'Marrah donated part of her liver to her friend, Kelly Drey, on December 7th, 2016

Sixth anniversary:
Andrea Armida Yochim donated a kidney to Yuri Miguel Carrarierro on December 19th, 2018