In a heartwarming appeal, the father of a 26-year-old woman who was suffering from chronic kidney disease posted his daughter's medical condition on Facebook. Upon seeing the post, a British woman decided that she would help the stranger by donating her kidney.
Louise Drewery, a mother of two from Lincolnshire, offered her kidney to Stacey Hewitt from Redcar who was diagnosed with kidney failure. The successful kidney transplant is believed to be the first ever live organ donation in the United Kingdom to have been started through social media.
Hewitt's parents were not suitable for the transplant. Without a donor, Hewitt would have had to wait and it was uncertain how long. Without a donor, she would suffer through a lifelong dialysis. This prompted her father to post on Facebook.
"Within seconds, my inbox went mad," Hewitt's father, Darren, said.
Drewery recalled seeing the Facebook post with her husband. She said that when she saw the message, when she knew that she could help, she definitely would.
"People ask me if it's for family or a friend, but they're shocked when I say it's for a total stranger," said Drewery.
Hewitt is the mother of a three-year-old boy named Alfie. Drewery said that she thought about the kid, and that he deserved to have his mother growing up alongside him.
Drewery also talked about her biggest fears before the operation. She said that she was afraid that she wouldn't wake up and her kids wouldn't have a mother anymore, when the reason she was doing this is so another child isn't living without a mother.
After 13 months of tests, the operation was carried out successfully at the Institute of Transplantation at Freeman Hospital.
"It's amazing and I can't thank her enough. She could have backed out at any moment - it takes a lot of guts to give an organ to someone you don't know," Hewitt said.
In the U.K., cases of altruistic kidney donations have been increasing. This year, altruistic kidney donations, which happen when individuals donate to complete strangers, occurred 37 times, according to the National Health Service.
Meanwhile, in the United States, there are 101,189 people who are waiting for a kidney donor. The average time for waiting is about three years depending on the compatibility, health and availability of organs, the National Kidney Foundation reported. Organizations that cater to altruistic kidney donors include American Transplant Foundation, Donate Life America, and Alliance for Paired Donation and Gift of Life.
