Largest Kidney Donor Chain Saves 30 Lives Across The Country

When Debbie Gianquinto found out that she couldn't donate her kidney to her husband, Dan, she offered up her much-needed organ to a stranger in Florida and Dan turned to a man he had never met in California for help.

The New Jersey couple's acts contributed to the largest kidney donation chain in history, which saved 30 lives, MyFoxPhilly.com reports. For each patient that needed a transplant, a loved one of that patient agreed to donate a kidney to someone else in need.

"I felt like I helped my husband," Debbie told MyFoxPhilly, "and literally saved his life by donating my kidney to someone else."

The 30 donors and 30 recipients came from 17 different states to help one another. The pay-it-forward strategy was born from Garet Hil, a New York businessman inspired by his daughter's illness. He started the nonprofit National Kidney Registry to conduct and facilitate the matches, The New York Times reports.

“The goal was very simple," Hil said. "Get everybody transplanted in under six months if you had a living donor. One of the things that drove us was the enormity of the problem. The other thing that drove us was that we understood the pain of being in that situation.”

Feeling inspired? Learn how to get involved with the National Kidney Registry, here.

To read more inspiring stories of selfless organ donors, click through our slideshow below:

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Comments

[Steve Scarduzio]

12:18 AM on 02/29/2012

45 comments???? Wow, most articles get thousands of comments. Just shows what people really care about in this world.

[rlb734]

12:56 PM on 02/22/2012

I am a living related kidney donor. I do think this was one of the best things I could have done in my life. I always live to help and assist but I know I did the best that I could for my brother donating. I am a nurse and I have been on the transplant team so I know how important giving to another is.

Think about being tested. It is a worthwhile experience.

[LIFESHARERS]

12:23 PM on 02/22/2012

The generosity of live organ donors is wonderful. It's a shame we need so many live organ donors. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.

There is another good way to put a big dent in the organ shortage -- if you don't agree to donate your organs when you die, then you go to the back of the waiting list if you ever need an organ to live.

Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. About 50% of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 14,900 members.

[aearthling59]

10:44 AM on 02/22/2012

If you didn't donate organs at death they would just disintegrate in a coffin better to give them to others and give others a chance to stay with their loved ones. Grim, yes, but life is precious.

[Heidi Dietrich]

10:28 AM on 02/22/2012

Wow! Now this is a story I like to wake up to. What a great thing!

[laurie041]

09:55 AM on 02/22/2012

What a wonderful and heartwarming story.....

[360Dunk]

09:52 AM on 02/22/2012

Hopefully, this great idea of a kidney donor chain will catch on. How does McRenal's sound? No, scratch that idea.....too commercial.

[peeowedaboutit2]

09:41 AM on 02/22/2012

Some things in life just make you smile. :-)

[badboyzs]

10:52 AM on 02/22/2012

. " " .

[all im sayin is]

09:21 AM on 02/22/2012

Off just the headline I thought, "So, isn't that SUPPOSED to save lives?" We should be so fortunate as to never need this kind of help, but grateful that some are willing. Cool story.

[psandysdad]

09:08 AM on 02/22/2012

And you don't wake up in a bathtub filled with ice, either.

[badboyzs]

10:53 AM on 02/22/2012

You could be on ice.

[listgirl3]

09:05 AM on 02/22/2012

This is SO wildly cool.

[sueb03]

09:04 AM on 02/22/2012

What a wonderful way to pay if forward. Kidneys are in very short supply. I am a kidney/pancreas transplant recipient. My organs had to come from a "cadaver" donor. While I would not be able to donate my organs at death, my husband is a bone marrow donor. We both promote organ donation every chance we get.

[peeowedaboutit2]

09:38 AM on 02/22/2012

Wow! Good for you! I didn't even realize that you could have a transplant operaton for the pancreas. Is that kind of rare, or no? :-)

[In Awe]

01:34 PM on 02/22/2012

Actually no, it is not rare. My brother is on the kidney transplant waiting list and they are also (prayerfully) doing the pancreas at the same time. The pancreas can only come from a cadaver, but it will get rid of his diabetes and help him to live a more healthy life.

[Bhavana Pardeshi]

04:18 AM on 02/22/2012

"Donating kidney to the stranger is to save one's life. I would like to suggest a documentary ""My Kidney, His Life"" is the personal story about the fears, concerns and joys experienced throughout the donation process.

To watch the documentary online visit:
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/4987/"

[vegasprincesstp]

02:40 AM on 02/22/2012

what an amazing story! sure puts things in perspective! and helps to remind me that for the most part people are good & mean well!

[Margaret Penny Wood]

12:29 AM on 02/22/2012

This is such a wonderful story! My daughter, who is a nurse pracititioner, recently signed on and gave a swab to be entered in the bone marrow registry. I can't even give blood anymore because of health conditions, but I send up my prayers for those who need help.