Photo: JoAnn and William Breckenridge of Elizabethtown helped make medical history recently as part of one of the first international paired kidney donor exchanges in America. / Photo courtesy of Jewish Hospital
JoAnn Breckenridge received a new kidney from a stranger in April. Her husband, William, donated a kidney to a stranger in May.
And both were part of a chain of generosity — which will involve a total of six organs when it’s complete — reaching halfway around the world to Greece.
The Elizabethtown, Ky., couple, who underwent surgeries at Jewish Hospital, took part in one of America’s first international paired kidney donations — a process that essentially requires strangers to swap kidneys.
On Friday, Louisville surgeons Drs. Michael Marvin and Mary Eng were recognized by Greek Ambassador Vassilis Kaskarelis at the Greek Embassy in Washington, D.C., for the part they played in the donor exchange.
JoAnn Breckenridge, 57, had suffered from high blood pressure for decades and was on dialysis before getting a new right kidney April 19. William and other family members had hoped to donate their kidneys to her, but none were good matches.
The paired donation “is better than waiting on a live donor who’s a match or a deceased donor,” she said. “I’ve been doing great.”
Read more: http://www.indystar.com/article/B2/20120601/FEATURES03/306010098/Kentucky-couple-swaps-kidneys-strangers?odyssey=nav%7Chead
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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