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When a Selfless Act Became a Stimulating Example:
William L. Willard Sr.'s Attempted
Living Kidney Donation from His Son
In early October 2005, my son, 1st LT William L. Willard, Jr.,
USMC, traveled
halfway around the world to give me a remarkable gift: a kidney to
replace the
transplant that was failing after 14 years.
His mother, Sue, my wife of 36 years, had made the same
wonderful offer some months
earlier, but hypertension had ruled her out as an eligible donor.
At first, I hadn't wanted Bill even to test for compatibility, but when he was home on leave earlier this year following duty in Iraq he went to the Lifelink Healthcare Institute in Tampa on his own, and learned that we're a match. Still, I told him I couldn't accept a kidney from my own son, but he looked in the eye and said: "Dad, I'm an adult. This is something I'm going to do."
That was that. And that was how we left it until a few weeks
ago when my kidney
function began deteriorating even further. It was then we arranged for
Bill and his
wife, Ellin, to fly in from Okinawa, where he's now stationed. Sue and
I met them at
Tampa International Airport on 11 October and drove to Lifelink for the
additional
testing required before the transplant, scheduled for 21 October at
Tampa General
Hospital, could be performed.
The donor's operation is done laporoscopically (a minimally
invasive procedure), so
Bill would be hospitalized for about five days, shortly after which
he'd return to
his normal duties. Best of all, he wouldn't have to resign his Marine
Corps
commission as a result of being a kidney donor. That was one of the
things that
finally sold me on accepting his offer.
As for me, it would take several days longer to be released,
but I, too, would soon
be back to normal-assuming, that is, everything went according to plan.
A rather
large assumption, as it turned out.
The call came from our Lifelink transplant coordinator midday
Thursday, 13 October.
Irregularities in Bill's tests had made him, too, ineligible to be a
donor.
As disappointed as we were at that news, especially so close
to the planned surgery,
I knew we are both fortunate in having a diligent evaluation team at
Lifelink. I'd
read of situations where the desire to go through with an organ
donation was so
great that the evaluation team cut corners, approving a willing donor,
even though
everything was not quite right. A few donors have had long-term health
problems
because they were approved when they should have been turned down.
What's in store for me now? I've been down this road before,
and it's really pretty
simple: Dialysis while waiting for another suitable deceased donor--a
wait that
could be as long as four years, or could end next week if an
extraordinarily
compatible kidney becomes available.
Yet the bitterly disappointing outcome and emotional
roller-coaster ride we were all
on does nothing to diminish our pride in Bill for having been willing
and anxious to
perform such a loving and selfless act. It even exceeds our pride in
his prior
service as an enlisted Marine, and his having earned a commission
following the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Semper Fi, son.
But, in truth, I made those points to make this one. So many
people are unaware of
or indifferent to the need for organ donations, and don't even sign the
permission-to-donate-after-death line on their driver's licenses, much
less tell
their families of their wishes.
About three times as many people are waiting for transplants
as there are kidneys
available. Currently, nearly 90,000 Americans are listed for an organ
transplant,
more than 3,100 are Floridians. Last year, more than 27,000 people
throughout the
country received their "gift of life" - sadly, approximately 17 people
died daily
because the organ they needed did not become available.
It is our hope that the story of someone close to home who
must now wait perhaps
years for a kidney--and the story of a son's willingness but inability
to donate,
might move others to sign their donor cards or driver's licenses.
To learn more about organ donation, contact Lifelink of Florida at 800 262-5775.
William L. Willard, Sr.
Clearwater. FL
w.willard3@knology.net
