Two days before Denna Harris was scheduled to donate her kidney to her cousin, Chelsea Hodges, the final cross-match test revealed that Hodges’ body would likely reject the organ. Harris was devastated, but that didn’t stop her commitment to give. In March, the National Kidney Registry completed its largest ever multi-center kidney swap, transplanting 34 …
Kidney Transplant News
Pittsburgh hospital plays role in 68-person kidney chain
With donations from cadavers unable to meet demand for organs, a 68-person kidney chain is the kind of approach urgently needed to counter a growing transplant waiting list. In what was described as the nation’s largest exchange to date, 34 people donated kidneys and 34 received them over a two-month period.
Changing Lives Through Donating Kidneys to Strangers
We’re about to take you inside the operating room to witness history in the making. A chain of complete strangers making incredible sacrifices to give the gift of life. Nightline co-anchor Byron Pitts has the story. What you’re witnessing is months in the making. Because this kidney is only one part of a transplant chain …
Woman Donated Kidney to Complete Stranger, Starts US’s Longest Multi-Hospital Donor Chain
Donating a kidney was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. I did it because I could. It was that simple. The question for me was never “why would I?” but “why wouldn’t I?” …
Donating a Kidney to a Complete Stranger in Order to Save a Loved One
For most of her life, Mitzi Neyens’ kidney disease was manageable, until suddenly, it wasn’t. Mitzi, 77, was in otherwise good health, but because of her age, she wasn’t eligible for a kidney from a deceased donor. Her only option was to find a living donor. So the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison enrolled …
Paired exchange record: 70 people, 35 kidneys
The National Kidney Registry does something called the paired exchange program. The most recent exchange involves 70 people from across the country, including two people from Pennsylvania that had their operations done at Pinnacle Health Harrisburg Hospital.
One woman’s donation starts chain of seven other kidney donations
A woman’s decision to donate her kidney set off a train reaction that saved many more lives.
First kidney swap at St. Louis Children’s Hospital allows two parents to help their children
Alyvia Wyatt needed a kidney as soon as possible. Her mother, Turquoia Wyatt, could not donate a kidney to the 2 year old because their blood types didn’t match, and her husband’s hypertension barred him from being a donor. Waiting on a kidney from a deceased owner can take months, so doctors at St. Louis …
Four lives, two kidneys and one organ registry that made it all happen
Two healthy donors, two sick recipients. In organ transplant circles, the whole procedure is called a kidney swap. But to Dinah Sampson (whose donated organ went to a stranger in South Carolina) and her father, Ed Hanson (who received a kidney from a different stranger in South Carolina), a better phrase might be lifesaver.
Documentary Coverage of Chain 166
The Chain is an innovative, digital short‐form documentary that uses five interwoven story lines to provide a compelling portrait of organ donation in the United States.