In the span of 36 hours in March, six patients in New Jersey and New York received kidney transplants from six living donors--all strangers--now connected in a rare six-way "Chain of Life."
Kidney chains are a recent phenomenon designed to overcome a long-standing problem in the renal transplantation: would-be donors who do not match the blood or tissue type of a loved. In the past, that meant two options: continued dialysis, or a transplant from a deceased donor.
