WASHINGTON — For Glen Millis, it’s an act of love.
His wife, Ana Rendich, is ill; the kidney that was transplanted into her body in 2008 is failing, and the search is on for a replacement.
Johns Hopkins has offered to do the surgery, but finding a donor is difficult in the best of times, and her case has complications: Rendich is a “sensitized” patient, meaning she carries antibodies that can attack transplanted organs.
When no one in her family or her circle of friends proved to be a match, her husband starting putting signs out in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, that simply read “kidney needed” and give an Internet address (KidneyQuest.com) for potential donors
There are now 70 signs in all, including a few in Fairfax County and two in Pennsylvania.
“I can’t stand out there on the road 24 hours a day, so we put up signs,” says Millis. He says his wife is not very happy about the campaign, but knows that a broad appeal to strangers may be their only option.
And that appeal is going out in old ways — the road signs — and new ones: Millis has also turned to social media to tell his wife’s story and spread the word even farther — part of a growing trend in organ donation.
“I think we have probably just begun to scratch the surface of the ability for social media to assist us in disseminating the word,” says Charles Alexander, president and CEO of the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, which works with hospitals and donors to facilitate solid organ transplants.
Alexander emphasizes that the need for donors across the board is great. He says donations are up around the nation, but it’s not enough to meet the growing demand.
“There are over 120,000 people waiting for a solid-organ transplant in this country,” he says, adding that more than 100,000 of those patients are waiting for a kidney.
The Living Legacy Foundation says those wishing to help end the wait for patient in need of a lifesaving transplant can designate themselves as an organ donor either by visiting their local DMV/MVA or by designating online at www.donatelifeamerica.net. Those who are interested in living donation can learn more by contacting their local transplant center.
