MM: I heard this podcast from Wisconsin Public Radio and To the Best of Our Knowledge, and it stuck with me, so I thought I'd share it here on the WHSLA Blog.
Health Science Librarians (and others) will appreciate the descriptions of being in surgery while a donated kidney takes on new life ... and what prompts someone to donate a kidney as a living donor.
By:When Missy Makinia saw on Facebook a little girl in her community needed a kidney, she immediately thought she could spare one.
The girl ended up getting a kidney before Makinia had a chance to donate — but Makinia, who lives in Ladysmith, decided to give hers to whoever might need it.
It makes her what's called a "humanitarian living donor," and it's the kind of selfless gift that can kickstart a whole chain of kidney donations, called a "non-directed kidney donor chain."
"She will donate her kidney. It will fly somewhere else in the country. Then that patient's donor will have a kidney go on a plane to somewhere else," UW Health transplant surgeon Dr. Josh Mezrich explained to "To the Best of Our Knowledge" host Anne Strainchamps.
Mezrich is Makinia's doctor and a renowned transplant surgeon.
"These chains can crisscross the country over a period of months," he said.
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