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Jun 16, 2009

Two make priceless gift to strangers, setting off two kidney transplant chains

 
How much can the power of love accomplish? Just ask Harry Damon or Nicole Lanstrum.

Damon is a Michigan firefighter who lost his 24-year-old son in a tragic snowmobile accident, and Lanstrum is an Air Force technical sergeant from Iowa who specializes in intelligence analysis. 

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Through the generosity of two kidney donors, Nicole Lanstrum and Harry Damon, six people were freed from dialysis when they participated in two kidney chains.
Up until recently, they didn't know each other, and they have nothing in common — with one important exception. Each has donated a kidney at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center to a complete stranger and, in doing so, started a kidney chain that has saved the lives of a total of six people through the power of love and selflessness.

On June 15, Lanstrum and Damon returned to the medical center where they joined a dozen other donors as well as recipients in the two kidney transplant chains they started, to participate in a press conference to express their love, respect and gratitude generated by this phenomenon.

“Becoming a kidney donor is a scary process for an awful lot of people,” said Suzanne McGuire, a UCLA kidney transplant coordinator. “There are people who can only do it because they love that recipient so much, and it’s so important to them to see [the recipients'] health improve. But for this group of people, it didn’t matter. They were going to do it no matter what.”

Damon and Lanstrum both have special reasons for donating their kidneys. Damon donated his to honor the memory of his deceased son. In Lanstrum’s case, donating a kidney has been a dream of hers since elementary school; she just wants to make the world a better place, she said.

Because of Damon and Lanstrum’s benevolence, two chains that relied solely on the basic idea of intrinsic human goodness were started. The chain works like this: When the altruistic donor gives up a kidney to a stranger who's a match, that stranger then has a spouse, child, relative or friend who's willing to donate his or her kidney to another stranger who is compatible. In this process of "paying it forward," at least six kidney patients — four at UCLA and two in San Francisco — were freed from dialysis.

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Dr. Jeffrey Veale, director of the donor exchange program and assistant professor of urology, praises donors and recipients involved in two kidney chains.
The selfless gesture has created a unique bond between two strangers, which, they attest, is stronger than those between close friends.

Reggie Griffin, 25, donated his kidney to a stranger on behalf of his mother who received a kidney from Damon. Griffin, who attended Monday's press conference, was visibly touched by the firefighter's generosity. “I can’t thank Harry enough, man," Griffin said. He’s my Harry Potter, he’s my wizard.”

Valinda Jones, a kidney recipient, also expressed her gratitude. She received a kidney from Lanstrum while her friend, Sheila Whitney, donated a kidney to a stranger on her behalf. “I feel so blessed,” said Jones through tears. “I feel like I have two donors and two angels.”

Dr. David Feinberg, the CEO and associate vice chancellor of the UCLA Hospital System, said he truly understands the power of the chain and the extraordinary nature of the people who participate in it.

“Our job is to heal people, one patient at a time,” said Feinberg, “But this isn’t one patient at a time. This is a group of people that come together to change lives.”

They certainly do — and they have the ever-growing chain to prove it.