Doctors diagnosed Ray Andrade with renal failure and gave him two options, a kidney transplant or remain on dialysis, an intensive, time-consuming medical procedure.
Andrade, who works as a security guard at Delnor Hospital in Geneva, began looking for a donor within the most logical pool of candidates — his family.
His sister was the only potential candidate, and she was not a match. Not long after learning this, he received a generous offer from a nurse at Delnor while they ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria.
Merri Lazenby, who works in the emergency room, told Andrade she would donate a kidney.
“She told me, ‘God gave me two kidneys. I’d be more than happy to give you one of mine,’” he said.
Lazenby made the offer, but she realized as a nurse that the likelihood she would be a close enough match to donate was low. When she learned they were a match, she was surprised. But she meant what she said. They began testing for the process in January 2009 and underwent the surgery in October.
“For her to be a match on the first crack it was incredible,” Andrade said.
Lazenby has since recovered from the surgery and returned to work. Before the surgery she ran a half-marathon. She is working out again and trying to return to her previous fitness level, she said.
The recovery process has been longer for Andrade, because his body needs to accept the transplanted kidney. His health is starting to improve to the point of contemplating a return to work, he said.
“I’m starting to feel a lot better,” he said. “I’m just starting to get my strength back.”
For Lazenby, the decision to donate was easy. The benefits are huge compared to the risk, she said.
She knows that if something happens to her down the road, she does not have a backup plan. She also knew that he did not have another living match, and that a transplant would give him the best chance at a normal quality of life.
“Andrade needs the kidney and because he is in his 60s he would have sat on a donation list for a long time and maybe never had a chance at a kidney,” Lazenby said.
Other than being co-workers, Andrade and Lazenby did not know each other well before this surgery. When Lazenby was filling out paperwork for the procedure, she realized she did not even know Andrade’s last name.
Before the surgery, they frequently worked the same shift at the hospital. It was his job to protect her as a security guard at the hospital, she said.
“I guess I’m just paying him back,” she said.
Andrade is simply appreciative of the gift.
“I’m extremely grateful to Merri and her family for stepping up like that,” he said.
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