The story started last April when Todd and Kent were meeting with an apartment complex manager regarding a job we were doing. Somehow in the conversation they started talking about organ donation. The manager mentioned the complex owner needed a kidney transplant, and that he himself had undergone some testing to see if he was a viable candidate to donate. There was a difficulty in that his blood type did not match; however, they could do something called a “lead frog” donation, meaning he’d donate his kidney to someone who matched and someone else would donate to his desired recipient. Upon ending that conversation Kent said to let him know if that wasn’t going to work and he would maybe be willing to be tested.
Kent went home, talked with his wife and they did some research on kidney donating and transplanting. Then he got a call from a friend of the person who was needing a kidney, and she asked if Kent was serious in considering testing and possibly donating. At that time Kent said, yes, but he still wanted to do more research and talk more about it with his wife.
Over the next weeks, Kent and his wife met several times with the one who needed a kidney, and got to know him and learned his life’s story. Kent and Kayla started to feel like this was the right thing to do, and so he went in for four days of testing. Suffice it to say that he was a perfect match!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010, Kent and his kidney recipient were in adjacent operating rooms at the Mayo Clinic here in Scottsdale. The initial transplant went smoothly, and as of today, the signs are real good that this was a successful transplant.
This month, we tip our hats to Kent and Kayla for their generous heart of giving. We also wish a successful recovery and happy, healthy years to the recipient.
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