A Living Donor- Lexi's Story

    If you were to talk to Alexis Law about her being a living donor, she would tell you that it is no big deal. Oh, don't get me wrong, she believes that organ donor programs like "The Gift of Life" are a very big deal, but the fact that she donated one of her kidneys while she was still using it, well, to her it seems like the most natural thing in the world to do. And that is one thing that makes Lexi Law a very special person. Many people (such as myself) have added to their driver's license their consent to donate their organs in the event of their death. A "living donor" is someone who donates a body part

while they are still alive.

   Here's how Lexi Law came to donate one of  her kidneys to a total stranger. Oh right, I haven't told you that part yet. When Lexi decided to donate a kidney, she knew absolutely nothing about the person who was going to receive it, except that person needed a kidney to stay alive, and well, that was enough for Lexi. Let's back up a bit. Originally Lexi was going to donate a kidney to her friend Leo, and they were tested to see if they were a compatible match. Compatibility is based on blood type. Unfortunately for Leo, they were not a match. At that point Leo and Lexi became a "team". Together they entered a nation-wide pool of other donor/recipients where compatible teams would be matched up, thus increasing everyone's chances of a successful transplant. Sadly, it was during this process that last April Leo passed away at the young age of 47. Diabetes and other health issues had taken their toll on Leo.

  I think for most people the story would have ended right there. Not for Lexi. During the whole process with Leo, Lexi formed a real bond with the organ donation people, a friendship that continues to this day. They called her after Leo's death and told her that she was under no obligation to stay in the program and that they would understand completely if she wanted to back out, but Lexi had other ideas. She had this plan of starting a "chain" as she calls, kind of an organ donation pay-it-forward chain, where she would donate one of her kidneys to someone who needed it, and someone associated with that recipient would donate on of theirs, and so on and so on. As Lexi put it, "I'm an organ donor as is, but I would rather have someone benefit while I was living than when I'm six feet under".

   Late last summer, Lexi received a call. Through Lankenau Hospital, a compatible recipient was found. A November transplant was scheduled, and Lexi's plan was about to be set in motion. "I gave my kidney to my recipient Bernice, (and) her brother gave to another person because they were not a match. He gave to another person and that person's recipients gave to another person. Talk about ripple effect! Lexi's recipient Bernice had juvenile diabetes from the age of 9, and in 2017 "everything just failed her and shut down", and she also went blind. Bernice is 55. Bernice is receiving treatments and doctors are holding out hope that one day she will regain her eyesight. The surgeries to Lexi and Bernice took place on November 11, 2018, Veteran's Day. Everything went well, and Lexi attributes that to her friend Lloyd Allen looking over her. Lloyd, a WWII vet and Downingtown resident had passed away the previous November.

  While in the hospital recovering, Lexi kept asking the nurses how her recipient was doing. One thing that you should know that when two parties enter into a donor/recipient agreement, both are guaranteed absolute privacy. Neither would ever know who the other one was or anything about them without both parties' consent. All Lexi was told was that "her husband said it was nice to hear her laugh again", and right there Lexi thought, "that's what it's all about!". Through intermediaries, Lexi and Bernice communicated, then one day Lexi actually got to meet Bernice and her mother Dolores. Thanks to a rare "gift of life", Bernice will have a chance at a normal life, no longer being tethered to a dialysis machine, and Dolores and other family members will have their Bernice. Like Lexi said, "that's what it's all about".

  If this story has touched you then I want to ask something of you. On Sunday April 14 I will be running in the 24th Annual Donor Dash in Philadelphia. Would you please consider making a donation directly to this worthy cause? The link to donate is here. Or, if you would like to join my team and come out with us on that Sunday, click on the same link. The team that I am on is Team Josh, and it has the distinction of being the longest running team (pun not intended) in the Donor Dash. Team Josh is named for my friend Leah Holland's son Josh, who as a child lost his life waiting for a heart. I run for Lea, Josh, Will, Lexi, Bernice, Dolores, ........