It's being called a record breaking kidney swap. 8 donors and 8 recipients across several states involved in a series of kidney transplants. It all began here in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
The entire process got started thanks to Pamela Paulk, a kidney donor who is also the vice president of human resources at Hopkins. For years, Paulk had wanted to donate a kidney.
So when she recently bumped into a colleague who had been out sick for months, she knew it was time. Paulk says, "I saw him in the hallway and I said Robert wow, it's good to see you back, how are you doing? He said pretty good. I said is there anything I can do for you. And he said not unless you have a kidney. I said I have one, I'll give it to you."
But she would soon find out her kidney was not a match. So instead of scrapping the entire procedure, Hopkins organized what's called a domino donor kidney transplant. It's when a donor who is incompatible with his or her recipient ends up giving a kidney to a stranger. Their loved one is then matched with someone else in the group.
It's what happened to Robert and Lisa Brinkman, a couple from Rockville. The domino procedure gave the husband a second chance at life. Robert Brinkman says he felt great after receiving his new kidney. "By the next morning I literally woke up feeling 100%." His wife Lisa says, "I knew that he needed a living donor. He really did. And I was the most likely candidate."
The 8th and final kidney transplant was successfully completed at Hopkins on Monday. Doctors say the recipient was on dialysis and the procedure saved her life. Dr. Robert Montgomery who performed the surgery says, "She was literally days or weeks away from dying."
Doctors hope the record breaking kidney swap will inspire more transplants so more people can experience the gift of life.
If you're interested in becoming a kidney donor, you can go to Hopkins website at www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kidneytransplant/.
