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There's a fairly large group of people who are waiting for a kidney transplant.
We estimate about 6,000 who have a willing donor, usually a loved one,
who can't receive a kidney from that donor because of an incompatibility.
I have polycystic kidney disease and it is hereditary. My biological father had it and I found
out I had it when I was 19 when I had my first son.
I had been sick the past two years.
The cyst had gotten larger in the kidneys very quickly.
When we came here, you know, I called and made an appointment, and that's the first
time that I had met Doctor Montgomery and he was just, like, sure we can fix you.
And then July 23 they took both of my kidneys out and then went to start
dialysis, and dialysis is not fun. Mrs. Crowder really had a tough time on dialysis.
She was not doing well at all. Jeffery was not compatible with her
and she's a very difficult to match patient and she's the type of patient who benefits
tremendously from this large pool of potential donors.
My husband said that he would get tested to see if he could give me a kidney.
When he couldn't give to me, we knew that he would give to somebody if he had to.
It really wasn't a hard decision. I just -- I felt like it's something i had to do
for my wife, my family and help other people.
Yeah, it really wasn't that hard at all.
He's my husband and he's given me life, basically.
We're starting the donor operation.
And the gentlemen, he's the husband of Mrs. Crowder.
They're part of a multicenter swap. So, we'll be taking his kidney out
and sending over to Boston and then we'll get a kidney back this afternoon for his wife.
He's helping more than just me. We're also helping another family
and then that family is helping somebody else.
In kidney pair donation we try to match those people up with other donors in
a pool and the donors, essentially donating to a stranger, exchanging the kidneys
between the two pairs, then everyone can get a compatible kidney.
If we can get a message out there to anybody, just one person, help just one
person realize that, you know, there is hope out there, there is help;
you just have to go to the right hospital and find the perfect doctor.
It was just wonderful to, you know, be able to get a kidney into her and watch
her get back into her life.