Because my longtime intertube friend and Boston essayist Larry Henry -- who helped kickstart my writing activities -- very much needs one. Larry writes:
I need a kidney transplant. My Mom donated my first transplant. It gave me absolutely normal life for 20 years before it began to fail. During those two decades, I was able to establish a career, awake to a new life in Christ, get married to Sally, have two great kids, Bud and Joe, whom many of you know through their schools, church, wrestling team, taekwondo, and other activities.
My sister Michele donated my second kidney. We had some rejection problems between us. Nonetheless, that transplant was carried out on a semi-experimental basis at a teaching hospital. It failed in two years.
Why am I asking for a kidney in this way? Because a friend of mine kicked me in the backside and persuaded me that I should. My friend needs a kidney, too; also his third transplant. He put together a list of friends, church members, business associates, and the like, and circulated his request. He got 40 volunteers, of which six have been registered as prospective donors at his hospital.
Without asking for help, as my friend pointed out, I faced a wait of many years, possibly having to leave my family and move to another state to speed up the process – but then only by years. And, people told him that, when you compare the minor inconvenience of donating a kidney to the gift of full life to another…well, there is no comparison. So would you please consider donating a kidney to me? Modern surgical procedures for donors are very sophisticated, involve no appreciable scar, and only a minimal hospital stay and recuperation. For more information on the process, see [http://www.transplantliving.org/livingdonation/questions.aspx].
Thank you so much. Please get in touch with me by e-mail at lawrencejhenry@comcast.net
Any help in locating a suitable donor would be highly appreciated. I have Larry's phone number as well, and will pass it along to anyone with leads.
UPDATE: P.J. Geraghty writes:
Wondering if you would also put a link in this post to www.donatelife.net which will tell people more about registering to be a donor after death. I'm the director of organ recovery services for Donor Network of Arizona and we work with families of people who have died. People who register to donate make the family's decision much easier.
Consider it linked.
