Posted on 02/10/2010 11:32:03 AM PST by Radix
STOUGHTON — Jordana Bryan traveled over 2,500 miles from Twin Falls, Idaho, to Massachusetts for one, selfless purpose: to donate her kidney to someone she met via the Internet.
Bryan, 56, met Charles “Chickie” Hoffman, a 69-year-old electrical contractor from Stoughton, on the Canton-based Web site MatchingDonors.com, a nonprofit organization that connects organ donors with patients in need of transplants.
Several months since their initial Internet meeting and dozens of invasive tests later, Thursday morning, Bryan and Hoffman will undergo a kidney transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Bryan, a professional caregiver by trade, is no stranger to the debilitating effects of kidney failure and the quest to find a life-saving donor.
“If I had 50 kidneys, I would donate 50 kidneys,” she said.
Bryan, a widow, said she had a friend who needed a kidney transplant more than 20 years ago who is still alive.
“I always thought I would like to do something like that because it turned my friend from being very ill to being vibrant,” she said.
Hoffman, a diabetic for more than 40 years, has been receiving dialysis treatment three times a week since 2006. He said he, too, wants his life back.
“Life before dialysis was wonderful, because I could work at my trade and my wife and I could go on trips and enjoy life,” he said. “I call myself a ‘prisoner’ because it is a terrible way of living and it takes your entire life away.”
Soon after his dialysis regimen began in 2006, he registered with the national donor registry, but received no response.
He eventually turned to the Web site in hopes of finding a donor, paid a $500 registration fee and posted his profile.
His profile read: “... I am happily married and the proud grandfather of two grandchildren, Jonathan and Emily. They are the light of my life and they mean everything to me ... I have always been a provider and it’s difficult to ask for the kindness of a stranger, but I hope and pray every day for a donor.”
After two failed Internet donor connections, the third one was the charm.
Bryan of Idaho, a complete stranger who lives thousands of miles from Stoughton, was a match and willing to lend a hand.
“I want this not just for Charles,” Bryan said. “I want his wife to have her husband back, their son to get their father back.”
Although the decision to donate was effortless, Bryan said the task of choosing a recipient was daunting.
“I read all the heartbreaking profiles, and I couldn’t pick one because that is like playing God,” Bryan said. “I would go down the list of people of those that contacted me until I found a match. Everyone on that list is going to die, and I just couldn’t pick.”
Tuesday was a day of rest for Bryan – no blood work or testing, just resting. She was instructed by physicians to spend the time thinking about her decision to undergo the transplant. She said there is nothing to think about. She is confident with her decision and is ready for the task.
“Chances of a person like me getting run over in the streets of Boston are a lot greater than me donating my kidney,” said Bryan. “Have you ever tried crossing the streets here? It is deadly.”
Chickie and his wife of 47 years, Gail, and Bryan, all broke bread together Tuesday night at Quincy’s Inn at Bay Pointe for one, final visit together before the transplant.
Hoffman said there are not enough words to describe how thankful he is to Bryan and her “unbelievable gift.” He said she is a very special person to do what she is doing.
“Jordana is a wonderful person, and I have a wonderful friend for the rest of my life,” he said. “Not because she is a donor. She is just a wonderful person for giving me a whole new chance at life.”
Prayers for both of them!
Angels among us!
;0)
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