Upon starting a new chapter of his life, Chuck reached out to an old friend, Al, to get a quote on building his new home. To Chuck’s surprise, Al told him he could not help him at this time because he was waiting for a lifesaving kidney transplant.
As anyone would do, the next question that Chuck asked is if there was anything he could do to help. Al’s reply was direct and straightforward, “unless you can get me a kidney, there is nothing that you can do.” After Chuck shared the typical “you are in my thoughts and prayers”, he heard a voice deep within him saying “You can do better than that”. That is when he told Al that he will give him a kidney.
Unfortunately, Al had heard that before to no avail. The fact is that Al had been suffering from chronic kidney disease where he was put on dialysis, taken off dialysis, then after almost dying, he was put back on dialysis. The doctor’s had told Al in June of 2023 that unless a kidney was found he may not make it through Christmas of that year.
The typical wait time for a kidney transplant is three to five years. The longer a person waits for an organ to be donated, the more your health will deteriorate. This means that the longer a person waits for an organ to be donated, the higher the change of rejection, or life expectancy.
Living kidney donation not only reduces the wait time, but also provides the recipient with a longer life expectancy, and less chance of rejection.
In July of 2023, Chuck was tested and found to be a match for Al. Over the next seven months, Chuck watched as his friend’s health deteriorated. He shared with me that “Dialysis is a way to keep you alive, but it’s not much of a life.”
On Valentine’s Day 2024, Chuck lived up to his promise and shared one of his kidneys with his friend at the Henry Ford Medical Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.
“It’s an unbelievable, humbling feeling”, says Chuck. He continued that he is normally a very happy person, but he was just overwhelmingly happy to have a chance to visit with Al and his two daughters a couple of months post-surgery.
Chuck does not see himself as a hero. He says that he considers himself just a small part of the story and truly believes that “All the Glory goes to God.”