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Triple Swap Starts a Donor Chain - National Kidney Registry - Facilitating Living Donor Transplants
The National Kidney Registry and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center Announce a Triple Swap Starting a Donor Chain
Former Marine is the Altruistic Donor
Making the Transplants Possible
New York, NY – February 20th, 2008 – Today, the National Kidney
Registry and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center announced
the successful completion of three simultaneous living donor transplants in one
of the nation’s first triple swaps involving a donor chain. The surgeries
took place last week on Valentines Day and all six donors and recipients are
doing well.
Today’s transplants were made possible by Cynthia Marshall, an altruistic
donor who contacted the National Kidney Registry over the internet, and traveled
from California to donate her kidney to a stranger in New York. Through the
amazing generosity of all the donors, not only do three people with kidney
failure now have functioning kidneys, but a donor chain has started that has
the potential to facilitate hundreds of transplants over time.
Cynthia was supported through the entire process by her husband Clint, who
donated a kidney to his brother twelve years ago. “It is not surprising
that both Cindy and Clint are former U.S. Marines. They are an inspiration to
all of us and represent the best this country has to offer”, said Garet
Hil, Founder of the National Kidney Registry.
“The Registry is going to improve so many lives. I am grateful to
everyone involved for giving me this opportunity to be a part of something so
special”, said Cynthia.
These three transplants are the start of the Registry’s first donor
chain - a breakthrough approach to kidney transplantation. This approach holds
the potential to facilitate thousands of transplants annually for people with
incompatible or poorly matched donors. The Registry currently has 41 possible
transplants identified across 6 participating centers and is planning to start
several more donor chains in the coming months
About the National Kidney Registry
The National Kidney Registry is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization with a mission
to save and improve the lives of people facing kidney failure by increasing
the quality, speed, and number of living donor transplants in the world.
