A Friend’s Loving Gift Gave Ben a Second Chance

Ben needed a second chance.

“I was experiencing edema, swelling in my lower extremities, legs and feet,” Ben said. He believed he was in really “bad shape,” and his kidneys were “fully clunked out.” Ben needed a kidney transplant.

A friend from Ben’s church stepped forward to be a living kidney donor. “I just asked God for a miracle in his body,” Tia said. “I didn’t know I was going to be a part of that miracle at that moment.”
Living kidney donations come with many benefits, such as fewer complications.

“We expect living donor kidneys to work at least for 15 to 20 years,” said Seyed Ghasemian, MD, Chief, Abdominal Transplant Surgery, Memorial Transplant Institute. “I have seen patients who had [living-donor] kidneys for 40 years. So it’s truly a lifesaving procedure, a lifesaving miracle.”

“Now I have my strength back. I don’t have to do dialysis anymore,” Ben said. “I got a second chance.”

And for Tia, the living donor, “Here at Memorial, it was great care. If I could do it again, I would,” she said with a smile.