Organ transplant to give man new hope

The News Leader | The Greenville S.C.

GREENVILLE, S.C. — John Greene, on dialysis because of a rare disease that struck suddenly, needs a kidney.

But he knows where he'll get it.

Today, 18 others on waiting lists for organ donations will die, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nearly 113,000 people across the country are waiting for a transplant.

Greene, 28, suffers from Wegener's granulomatosis, a rare disease that afflicts about 1 in 20,000 to 30,000 people, according to the Vasculitis Foundation. It causes the body's immune system to attack the vascular system and other organs, said Dr. Nancy Allen, the professor of rheumatology and immunology at Duke University who has been treating Greene.

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