Anonymous kidney donors create domino effect
Posted May 16, 2012 8:51 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Earlier this week, News1130 told you about Phil Rosario, a man from Pitt Meadows who underwent a kidney transplant after Scott Dudley, a complete stranger from Washington, stepped forward to donate.
Dudley, who is the mayor of Oak Harbour, isn’t alone in his inspiring act of generosity; BC Transplant says a handful of special people step up every year, saving the lives of dozens of people they have never met.
Most living kidney donors give to a family member or someone else close to them, but there are those who don’t care who gets their kidney.
“We call them NDADs, non-directed anonymous donors,” says Dr. David Lansburg, director of kidney transplants for BC Transplant and St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. “Many of them don’t even know who their donation goes to, only that it goes to whoever has the greatest need.”
These donors are enrolled in the national donor exchange program, often unlocking a chain reaction and saving multiple lives.
“Say you can’t give a kidney to your brother directly, but there’s somebody else who’s compatible and, in return, your brother gets a kidney from someone else — you get a domino effect,” explains Lansburg. “A non-directed donor comes into this and they have the ability to unlock the chain because they don’t need a recipient who is tied to them to get a kidney in return.”
One person’s donation can end up facilitating transplants for five or six people and at the end of the chain, because there’s one extra person, the last donor’s kidney goes to someone on the waiting list.
Last year in BC, doctors performed close to 100 living donor transplants; most were blood relatives, spouses, or close friends. Lansburg says about 10 involved more remote acquaintances and no more than three in any given year are NDADs.
“These people, who are few and far between, are precious and when people hear stories [like Rosario’s], some are inspired to become anonymous donors,” he notes.
Lansburg adds even one NDAD can make a valuable difference in saving lives.
