Strollerderby : organ transplant

Mom Gives Kidney to Son's Little League Coach

JeanneSager — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:28:00 GMT

Some coaches inspire kids to do big things. But it isn't one of his Little Leaguers clinching post-season play for Pat Neal The kids' baseball coach will get a kidney next month from the mother of one of his athletes.

Neal has been coaching Sam Martin's son Chase for the past four years. Two years ago, when there was a chance Chase would end up with another coach, the Martins crossed their fingers and signed up anyway. Chase was overjoyed - and Neal says it was a "God thing," something that kept the Martins connected to him for these past two years, something that ensured his perfect match would find out he needed a kidney.

Martin is perfect in every way - although there is no relation between the two, doctors say she's been able to keep Neal from waiting as much as five years on a transplant list because they can go ahead with the surgery in January. She said once doctors told her the surgery would not endanger her chances to have another baby, nothing could stop her from helping Neal.

Considering how often parents seem to be coming to blows on the sidelines of kids games these days, it's nice to know there are still coaches out there who parents can really behind. And some parents could put a body part into!

Image/Source: MSNBC

Three-Year-Old Eats Solid Food for the First Time

The Longshots: Girls Can Play Football . . . and Make You Cry

Lost Dog Makes it Home For Christmas

Blogging Moms Find a Kidney For Teen on Dialysis

JeanneSager — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:02:00 GMT

If you've ever doubted the power of the Internet, just imagine the motivation of helping a kid in need thrown in. This is one of those happy holiday stories to make up for all the bad stuff we ended up writing about here on the 'Derby, but I warn you. Get out the tissues.

"Domestic Diva" mom blogger Lisa posted in early November that she could barely keep posting as she watched her teen daughter, Marielle, suffer through her kidneys shutting down. The family was making a drastic move. They were pulling Marielle out of a Philadelphia hospital and heading to New York's Columbia Presbyterian in hopes that the living kidney donor program there could save her life.

Two weeks to the day later, yesterday, Lisa was back online. Blogging mothers across the country had picked up her story and blogged about it, tweeted it on Twitter and shared it on Facebook. Calls poured into Columbia Presbyterian from every state in the U.S., from Africa, from Saudi Arabia. Marielle now has a donor. A friend her mom met through Ebay called the hospital, went through the process and has come up as a match. The teenager is home, still on dialysis, but home for the holiday as doctors work to bring her body to a state of health that will enable them to proceed with surgery.

Yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving, the family released this announcement to the world:

"Thank you to EVERYONE who sent in donor forms, called, blogged, twittered and help spread the word…BUT WE DO NOT NEED ANY ADDITIONAL DONORS AT THIS TIME. I am amazed by the power of the web and the hearts of those who helped make a difference."

Now wipe your tears and get back to that turkey.

Image: Domestic Diva

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Grandma Serves as Surrogate, Gives Birth to Triplet Granddaughters

Father Can't See His Little Boy, But Can He Give Him His Organs?

JeanneSager — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:01:00 GMT

Imagine just finding out there's a little boy out there with your genetic make-up. Yes, he's your son. Oh, and he needs an organ transplant. One of yours would probably do the trick. But, sorry, you can't meet your son.

The plot of a day-time soap? No, this is the story of British dad Michael Shergold, who learned just recently that an ex-girlfriend hid her pregnancy and the subsequent birth of their child. A school caretaker, Shergold was divorced in 1996 after his first wife was unfaithful. He secured full custody of their three children, and raised them single-handedly. His first relationship after his divorce didn't last long, Shergold told London's The Daily Mail, because he discovered the woman had a drinking problem. They broke up, and Shergold moved on. In 2002, he even remarried, this time to Alex, a Pentecostal pastor who moved from Los Angeles to Britain the same year the couple were married.

Then, in January 2007, the Shergolds received a letter from Hampshire social services. Michael called the number listed. Their news? That ex-girlfriend had delivered a son four years prior. It was a shock to Shergold, who said he never even knew she was pregnant. After speaking with his wife, Michael agreed to a DNA test and immediately began planning to incorporate the child into their lives.

But the big shock was yet to come. The boy, the social worker told him, is in ill health, and his best bet for survival is an organ transplant. The best donor, doctors say, would be a close relative. Which is where Shergold comes in. The boy's mother had agreed to donate the organ, then changed her mind. She'd already given the child up to the foster system, and she said the transplant might affect her future chance at having a child. Shergold was the boy's only hope.

He said not only would he like to donate his organ, but he'd like to adopt his own child and get him out of the foster care system. The response? Sorry, no adoption. You can't even see him. But about that organ . . . The fight isn't over yet, and Shergold is still trying to make his decision. He's dealing with what some would call a parent's worst nightmare - knowing that his child is suffering - but he has been denied a chance to reach out and wrap that child in his arms and provide the comfort every parent most wants to give.

How would you choose? Although the organ wasn't specified because of legal issues (social services tried to keep the Daily Mail from publishing the story), the best I can approximate is giving a kidney to a long-lost relative you've never met. We don't usually do that - live organ donation is something we usually do for someone we actually know. But can you really say a child you never met is a stranger?

Image: Daily Mail (Michael and Alex Shergold and two of his children)

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Teen Organ Donor Passes On Cancer-Ridden Organs

Amy S.F. Lutz — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:30:00 GMT

This is one of the saddest stories I ever heard.

Fifteen-year-old New Yorker Alex Koehne died suddenly last year of what doctors initially suspected was meningitis. His parents, knowing how strongly Alex believed in organ donation, donated his liver to a 52-year-old man and his pancreas to a 36-year-old woman. His kidneys went to two men, one 46 and the other in his sixties.

One month later, an autopsy revealed that Alex had actually died of a very rare and fast-moving lymphoma cancer. The alert went out, but the cancer had already killed the liver and pancreas recipients. The kidneys were removed, and the patients who received them are currently undergoing chemotherapy.

They say the worst thing in the world is to lose a child, and until today, I believed it. Now I think this might be worse. My heart goes out to this family, who only wanted to do the right thing and honor their son's generous spirit.