Northwestern Medicine nephrologist Dr. Aleksandra Gmurczyk regularly sees patients with failing kidneys.
She’s noticed that many of those she treats would rather stay on dialysis than undergo a kidney transplant. Gmurczyk said she believes that some patients’ distrust for the medical system leaves them unconvinced that a transplant could improve their health.
During a news conference Thursday morning at Northwestern’s Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago to spotlight National Donate Life Month, the doctor talked about the enormous impact of receiving a kidney donation.
But she also spoke from her firsthand experience as a donor.
Gmurczyk donated one of her own kidneys eight weeks ago. Her motivation was the pursuit of changing her patients’ attitudes about the process.
“I wanted to help someone,” Gmurczyk said. “I know people can live healthy lives with one kidney, and I know the high need for living donor organs. I hoped by donating my kidney I’d help someone, and I also wanted to inspire others to donate.”
The doctor said the next step during the process was deciding the person who would receive her kidney. In February, she began a kidney paired donation, which occurs when a patient has a kidney donor in mind, but the donor isn’t a good match with their designated recipient. In this case, two donors swap recipients, giving their kidneys to the patients who are the better matches.
Gmurczyk’s kidney went to a patient in Virginia named Ginger. Ginger’s husband, Gary, ended up donating a kidney to Northwestern Medicine patient Art Reyes. The group of four met for the first time Thursday morning during an emotional event raising awareness of living organ donation. (Ginger and Gary requested that their last names not be used.)
Ginger said she became diabetic after pregnancy. For 18 years, her health declined as she experienced high blood pressure and, later, high creatinine.
She began dialysis about two years ago, which she said went well for some time, but became increasingly difficult over time.
While her husband hoped to donate his kidney, the couple learned they weren’t a match. They entered the paired program together and ultimately helped save two lives.
Ginger,speaking by Zoom, said to Gmurczyk, “You’re as beautiful outside as you are inside.”
When Gmurczyk said, “You’re going to make me cry,” Ginger said she’d been holding it back.
“But we need to be positive and move on and get the story out so there can be more stories like this,” she said.
Reyes, who received Gary’s kidney, quickly began to cry as he first spoke at the conference.
He said the transplant has been an emotional journey and he thanked Gary for his lifesaving donation. Before the transplant, Reyes said he had no hope. But his life has changed completely with the new kidney.
“There’s really no words to say thank you,” Reyes said. “You’ve given me life back, and I’m so grateful.”
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias on Thursday morning also highlighted the importance and simplicity of organ and tissue donation during another moving news conference, held in the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago.
One single donor can save or improve the lives of up to 25 people, he said. While more than 7.5 million Illinois residents are registered donors, he said, about 4,000 people remain on the transplant waiting list today, and 300 people die waiting for a transplant every year in the state.
About 2,000 transplants happen in Illinois each year, but “we can and we must do better,” Giannoulias said. The secretary of state’s office launched a public awareness campaign focusing on the critical need for organ donors, especially in communities of color, where the need for some organs is the greatest, he said.
Giannoulias mentioned Bonnie Raitt’s song “Just Like That,” which received the 2023 Grammy Award for Song of the Year, during the news conference. Raitt wrote the song after hearing a story about a mother meeting the recipient of her deceased son’s heart.
Giannoulias said the song is “tremendously impactful.” Part of raising public awareness is drawing on the support of celebrities involved in the cause, he said. For the song to win a Grammy Award is also powerful, he said.
Sheila Chalmers-Currin, village president of Matteson, shared that she lost her son to kidney disease. He died while waiting for a kidney transplant, she said.
“I no longer have my son, but there’s so many others that could be saved if we make the difference,” she said. “That is my statement to you — that if you want to make a difference in the lives of others and improve the lives of others, please commit to making this different by being an organ donor.”
Kim Gossell, a three-time kidney recipient from Palatine, also urged the public to join the organ donation registry. After a long health journey, her most recent kidney transplant is failing.
Still, Gossell said, “The good news is I’m here.”
“I ask that if you have any thought of helping a friend, family member or a perfect stranger return to their normal life and to their family, please consider becoming a living organ donor,” Gossell said.
To enroll in the state’s organ and tissue donor registry, go to LifeGoesOn.com, call 800-210-2106 or visit a secretary of state facility. More information can be found at donatelifeillinois.org.
