Social Worker gives an anonymous gift of life
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By Rachel Lake - At any given time, about 200 people in Nebraska are on a kidney transplant waiting list. They sometimes wait months, even years before finding a match. But recently a match was found for a man on dialysis… And that match came from a complete stranger.
As a social worker, Michelle Jack has served hundreds of dialysis patients over the years... But there is the story of one patient she will never forget.
“We had a patient who received an anonymous donation a number of years ago and it was the most miraculous thing really for him and one of the things that he said that stuck with me is that "I got my life back" so that's what I was hoping to do for some else,” said Michelle Jack.
So last year, Michelle decided to become an anonymous donor. “And that day I just decided that I had a good kidney that somebody could use,” said Michelle. Michelle contacted Omaha's Nebraska Medical Center... And the ball started rolling. “When I started the donation process I asked that the recipient be someone from Nebraska and on dialysis,” said Michelle.
Doctors found a man that met both criteria and scheduled a date for surgery. “The closer we got to surgery I had a few second thoughts. I kind of just though jeeze what did I get myself into but it just kind of came back to me that everything's gonna be okay,” said Michelle.
And everything was okay... The recipient's body accepted Michelle's kidney within an hour of the transplant. And Michelle said she is just as healthy as before.
“Life is back to normal, I'm doing everything I was before and hope the recipient can do the same,” said Michelle Jack.
Michelle is now sharing her story in hopes that other people will consider being donors. “To cause people to stop and think about the fact that they have an extra organ that somebody else could benefit from and that they can live a normal life if they were to donate,” said Michelle. To this day, Michelle does not know the identity of the recipient... But said she would like to meet him.
As a social worker, Michelle Jack has served hundreds of dialysis patients over the years... But there is the story of one patient she will never forget.
“We had a patient who received an anonymous donation a number of years ago and it was the most miraculous thing really for him and one of the things that he said that stuck with me is that "I got my life back" so that's what I was hoping to do for some else,” said Michelle Jack.
So last year, Michelle decided to become an anonymous donor. “And that day I just decided that I had a good kidney that somebody could use,” said Michelle. Michelle contacted Omaha's Nebraska Medical Center... And the ball started rolling. “When I started the donation process I asked that the recipient be someone from Nebraska and on dialysis,” said Michelle.
Doctors found a man that met both criteria and scheduled a date for surgery. “The closer we got to surgery I had a few second thoughts. I kind of just though jeeze what did I get myself into but it just kind of came back to me that everything's gonna be okay,” said Michelle.
And everything was okay... The recipient's body accepted Michelle's kidney within an hour of the transplant. And Michelle said she is just as healthy as before.
“Life is back to normal, I'm doing everything I was before and hope the recipient can do the same,” said Michelle Jack.
Michelle is now sharing her story in hopes that other people will consider being donors. “To cause people to stop and think about the fact that they have an extra organ that somebody else could benefit from and that they can live a normal life if they were to donate,” said Michelle. To this day, Michelle does not know the identity of the recipient... But said she would like to meet him.
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