A Non-Profit 501c3 Kidney Patient Empowerment Organization

living kidney donation

Living Kidney Donors Day 2018

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The State of Arizona recognizes Living Kidney Donors as life-saving humanitarians who inspire our community to “give back” in bigger and bolder ways in Arizona’s HCR 2042 proclamation resolution for Living Kidney Donors Days in 2018.

Over 100,000 end-stage kidney disease patients nationwide pray their name will make it to the top of the list, so they can get a life-saving kidney transplant. The average wait for a deceased donor’s kidney is four and a half years; in some regions, the wait can be as long as nine years. Yet, there is a way to end this wait and improve outcomes, if communities were better informed.

Arizona State Representative Heather Carter teamed with TransplantFirst Academy founder, Risa Simon on March 8, 2018, to re-introduce resolution proclamation, HCR 2042, to make March 8, 2018 Living Kidney Donors Day in the state of Arizona. This renewal initiative is intended to extend statewide awareness and recognition in living kidney donation.

By design, the proclamation falls on World Kidney Day and Donor Network of Arizona’s Donate Life Day, to further expand collaborative efforts to expand awareness.  Simon said, “Since living kidney donors don’t wear a Medal of Honor or a superhero’s cape, it’s often hard to recognize them. They deserve a lifetime achievement award for the role they play in saving lives and inspiring community citizens to give back in bigger and bolder ways.”

The significance behind HCR 2042 is that it represents hope for nearly 2,000 people in Arizona who are in desperate need of a kidney transplant. The names of these individuals reside on a list with a 3 to 5 year waiting period. Sadly, 90 names are removed from that list each year when patients die while waiting for their much-needed transplant.  Another 50 Arizonans are removed from the list due to advanced illness, which often disqualifies them from ever receiving a transplant.

The good news is that each year approximately 575 people in Arizona are removed from the list because they received a kidney transplant. The bad news is that the list and its wait never gets any shorter. This quagmire exists because an additional 865 new names are added every year (290 more than those removed). This impossible balancing act and its life-threatening challenge continue to disrupt organ donation supply and demand.

Living kidney donation, however, holds the potential to course-correct the destiny of this deadly foregone conundrum. Simon asserts, “Our organ shortage stems from a lack of education and awareness.” She describes the statewide proclamation as a befitting salute that increases awareness and right-doing. She went on to say, “the noble acts of living kidney donors don’t end after donation. Their gift represents more than one-life saved. Their actions live on to inspire ordinary people to seek extraordinary ways in which they can engage in life-saving opportunities for others in need.”      

As a recipient of a live-donor kidney transplant, Simon said, “While those of us who were blessed with a transplant from a living donor will be forever grateful, we must not forget those left behind. Living kidney donors embody the promise of a better life and a better tomorrow. Now we need to make it a better life and a better tomorrow for all.” 

One of those humanitarians is Kati Walker, a living kidney donor who donated one of her kidneys to her children’s elementary school principal in Cave Creek, Arizona.  Kati has since become a strong advocate for living kidney donation and an inspirational spokesperson for the TransplantFirst Academy. Post-donation, Kati’s active life remains full of love and joy. Even after her donation, she continues to give back at every turn. There’s no prompting needed when you hear Kati affirm her kidney donation was “one of the best decisions I ever made!”

To date, more than 145,000 living kidney donors have selflessly saved an equal number of lives, over 2,800 of whom were saved in Arizona.  We salute them all and are hopeful more good-hearted Samaritans will follow Kati’s lead. Last year, living kidney donor transplants dropped down 39% from 2009 in Arizona alone. Through increased awareness, the TransplantFirst Academy and other organizations, like the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona and the Erma Bombeck Project, believe Living Kidney Donor’s Day holds great promise by shining light on increased awareness and recognition that can lead to a better and longer life for all.

About TransplantFirst

TransplantFirst Academy is a 501c3 non-profit organization based in Phoenix, dedicated to empowering kidney patient outcomes and increasing living kidney donor awareness. For more information, visit: TransplantFirst.org. To request an interview, contact TransplantFirst’s founder/CEO, Risa Simon, at (480) 575-9353 or via email at risa@transplantfirst.org

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Donating A Kidney In Advance of Need = Lives Squared

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Donating A Kidney In Advance Holds Potential To Save Multiple Lives.

Here’s an unprecedented concept that encourages more people to become living kidney donors. It’s called the Advanced Donation Program. It was developed to allow healthy individuals to consider donating a kidney in advance of when a friend or family member might need one. In other words, a potential living kidney donor could donate a kidney at a time that is more optimal for their schedule or candidacy, while still protecting the future needs of their intended recipient.

The New York Times described this concept akin to a gift certificate, layaway plan or voucher program. Call it what you want. The most exciting thing about this innovative program, initiated by Dr. Jeffery Veale, a transplant surgeon at Ronald Reagan’s UCLA’s Medical Center, is that it has the potential to help more than one person, in between a pause in time.

This revolutionary concept was suggested by Howard Broadman, a 64-year-old attorney and retired judge who lives in Laguna Niguel, California. Broadman approached UCLA with the desire of donating a kidney to a stranger now so he could provide his grandson some assurances for when he would need one in the future.  And that’s exactly what he did.

Broadman’s donation essentially gives his grandson “earned protection credit” and priority towards his future donor needs. This, notwithstanding the potential to help two or more people in other time-lapsed paired exchanges.    

Donating a kidney in advance can also come into play when a major anticipated life event — such as vacations, employment restrictions or family matters could potentially restrict donors from moving forward. I personally experienced this when a friend was ready to donate before I my renal function reached transplant eligibility. By the time I was ready, my friend had an employment change and was no longer able to donate. In this program he could have helped a stranger altruistically when he was most eager to do so, while still protecting my future needs.

Program Overview:

The National Kidney Registry’s Advanced Donation Program (ADP) is a paired exchange separated in time. This program allows medically and psychosocially acceptable donors to donate their kidney before their intended recipient needs a kidney. The timing of this program helps someone in need today while also protecting their intended recipient, by advancing them to transplant at their time of need. Some ADP donors have donated only a few weeks before their intended recipient was transplanted. Other ADP donors may be donating 10 plus years before their intended recipient needs a transplant; and some donate in the hope that their intended recipient will never need a transplant (or another transplant). It should be noted that there are no written guarantees. This stands to reason, as guarantees cannot apply in situations that would be beyond the control of such a guarantee—(i.e.; recipient health, challenging antibody levels and transplant candidacy).

Ultimately, when the intended recipient redeems his or her gift certificate, the last donor in a current chain would donate their kidney to them. 

Nine other transplant centers across the U.S. have agreed to offer the gift certificate program, under the umbrella of the National Kidney Registry’s advanced donation program.  These centers currently include: UCLA, Emory, New York Presbyterian, UCSF, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin, Cleveland Clinic, University of Chicago, Allegheny General, Sharp Memorial and Virginia Transplant Center.

  • 30 million people with chronic kidney disease in the U.S., – strong candidates for the innovative new program.
  • 500,000 people in the U.S. with a functioning kidney transplant, but the transplants typically last for just 10 to 20 years. They are also strong candidates for this program should a second transplant is needed.

The TransplantFirst Academy hopes the program will eventually go a step further by addressing the needs of people who fear if they help someone today, they might not be able to help a spouse or a child in the future. The design of this program provides some assurances and “peace of mind” surrounding those unknowns. Ultimately, the hope is that Advanced Donation will encourage more altruistic donors to step forward, which will trigger more chains and save more lives.

If Just 0.5 Percent of The Nation’s Adults Became Living Kidney Donors, Our Kidney Transplant Waiting List Would Be Eliminated 15 Times Over.

Living Kidney Donor Tribute Inspires Followers

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TransplantFirst Academy is raising community awareness in living kidney donation.

TransplantFirst Academy urged Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton to approve a proclamation in honor of living kidney donors for their brave gift. The proclamation was approved to be recognized throughout the month of January.

“Most healthy individuals don’t realize that they can donate one of their kidneys and make an immediate impact on someone’s life,” said Risa Simon, founder and CEO of TransplantFirst Academy. “The mayor’s proclamation combined with our billboard campaign, a tribute showcasing real-life living kidney donors, aims to expand awareness.”

“Since living kidney donors don’t wear a Medal of Honor or a superhero’s cape, it’s often hard to recognize them. Their decoration of a few tiny scars is a unique distinction of lifetime achievement for the role they played in saving lives.”

Living kidney donation is not for everyone. It takes a very special and healthy person to qualify. Simon added, “Kidneys are hard to come by and our nation’s deceased organ supply simply cannot meet the demand. We hope that our billboard campaign makes people aware that they can make an impact now, not just after they are deceased.”

TransplantFirst Academy’s billboard campaign goal is simple:
1. Honor living kidney donors for saving more than 132,160 lives (2,834 lives in Arizona) as of December 25, 2015.
2. Capture community attention that ignites interest in living kidney donation.
3. Save lives by ending the life-threatening wait for those in need.

As a passionate patient advocate and preemptive transplant recipient, Simon said, “When my living donor stepped forward on my behalf, I received more than a highly functioning kidney. I received a sense of duty to advocate for all those facing this reality.”

About TransplantFirst Academy:
TransplantFirst Academy is a 501c3 non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz., dedicated to empowering and improving kidney patient outcomes. For more information, visit transplantfirst.org. To become a sponsor or request an interview, contact Risa Simon at 480-575-9353 or risa@transplantfirst.org.

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