Donors exchange pins, hugs
An emotional William Hutz of Penn Township gave a thank-you pin to his kidney donor, Oma Palmer of Birchwood, Tenn., at a living donor ceremony on Thursday at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh in honor of National Donor Day.
After the emotional presentation of the pin and a heartfelt hug between the two, Hutz told the 100 donors, recipients and family members at the luncheon that Palmer is the sister of his wife, Jackie's, ex-husband.
“So, don't let anything hold you back,” Hutz said.
The ceremony celebrated 25 living donors and their recipients who had transplant surgery at AGH in the past two years.
Tears were shed as recipients struggled to share their gratitude with their donors, including Hutz, 63, and Palmer, 56.
“To give up a part of your body for someone else?” Hutz said in a voice wracked with emotion. “It's amazing.”
Hutz said in the two-and-a-half grueling years he spent on dialysis, four prospective donors failed to make the cut. He was unable to travel with his wife because he had to be connected to the dialysis machine every night and take a variety of life-saving medicines just to stay alive.
“Now, I can do anything I want to do,” Hutz said. “We just up and go anywhere we want. I just take a few pills with me.”
Hutz gazed around the room at dozens of organ recipients like himself, who were given a second chance at life by the selfless donors who attended.
“It's a nice ceremony, but to me it's nice to see all the folks who have been blessed,” Hutz said.
He said when Palmer was finally named as a donor and the surgery was scheduled for May 31, 2018, his concern was not for himself.
“I worried about (Palmer) all the time,” Hutz said. “It's just amazing what these people do.”
Palmer was almost blasé about giving up one of her perfectly good kidneys, so that Hutz could continue to enjoy his life.
She explained that she traveled from Tennessee to visit Jackie Hutz's sick mother in mid-2017.
That's when she heard from Jackie that Hutz was on life-sustaining dialysis and needed a kidney to survive.
“It dawned on me one day on the way home from work — why can't I be Will's donor?” Palmer said.
So, AGH sent a packet to her home that contained an order for blood work to see if she was a preliminary match. After the blood test showed she was a potential match, more in-depth testing was completed in Tennessee.
“Except the final test at AGH in March 2018, when I met the transplant team,” Palmer said. “I arrived up here on May 23, 2018, and the surgery was the 31st.”
Palmer was surprised she was approved as a donor, as she hasn't always taken care of herself.
“This is a second chance at life for both of us,” she said of her former lifestyle.
Palmer and Hutz had the surgery on a Thursday.“I was out of the hospital on Saturday morning,” Palmer said.She stayed with friends and family in the Pittsburgh area for 10 days before being released by doctors to return to Tennessee.Palmer said she had no reservations about offering Hutz her kidney.“My spouse did, but I didn't,” she said. “I figured, why not? I have two.”Jackie Hutz's son, Kyle Palmer, sat beside his aunt, Oma, at the pinning ceremony.He said he and his two brothers were kept in the dark about the donation until two weeks before the surgery.“It was a shock, and obviously I was nervous about the surgeries,” Kyle said, “but I wasn't really shocked because Oma would do anything for anybody.”His wife, Nicole Palmer, agreed.“I wouldn't expect anything else from her,” Nicole said. “She's a very kindhearted person and always thinks about others. She's very selfless.”She said the family was relieved that the donation would extend William Hutz's life and that the donor was in the family.“It was all up to God,” Nicole said. “He put everything to work.”Jackie Hutz, who raised $44,000 for the transplant surgery while her husband suffered through dialysis, was so emotional at the pinning ceremony that she could barely talk about it.“We have 16 people here with us today at the luncheon and that's a fraction of the people we would like to thank for making this happen,” she said.Duke Rupert, the chief operating officer at AGH, said that 7,500 people in Pennsylvania and 110,000 nationwide await organs on a transplant list.“Your gift of life is inspirational to all of us,” Rupert said at the ceremony Thursday.The entire AGH transplant team attended the event, including Dr. Bhavna Chopra, a nephrologist in the transplant program.“It always overwhelms me to see how much giving people can do for somebody else,” Chopra said. “Today is a day to honor our donors for their selfless act and I applaud them.”Many emotional pairs pinned each other when called to the podium. Recipients gave a pin of thanks and donors gave a pin of congratulations honoring their recipient's recovery.The donors were of all ages, genders and states of fitness, but all appeared hale and hearty with one kidney.Two recipients said they refused their children who offered to donate because they feared their offspring would someday acquire the same renal condition that caused their need for a kidney.Others were brother and sister or husband and wife, and all received a round of applause when they hugged after the pinning.Dr. Lorenzo Machado, an AGH transplant surgeon, said all of his donors bring him joy and inspiration.“Whatever kind of day I'm having, I'm reminded there are people like you,” he said as he gazed around the room with a smile. “You're sharing yourself with someone else, but you're also sharing with us.”
