Brian Flynn recalls the first time he considered becoming a livingorgan donor: about five years ago, when he stumbled across a Facebook post from a friend who needed a kidney. “I was on a business trip, and I’d maybe had a few margaritas with a colleague,” he says with a laugh. “But I thought, ‘Why don’t I see if I’m a match?’ " He was — but the friend ended up getting a kidney from her husband. Then a year ago, when Flynn was turning 50, the idea popped back into his head. “I told my wife, ‘I’m feeling likeI need to do more. I’m healthy —maybe I reallyshouldgive someone a kidney!’ "
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It was a Facebook post from his daughter’s basketball coach that led Flynn to the recipient of his kidney. Greg Dentice, 25, the basketball coach’s brother, had been living with kidney failure for more than a decade, and his family and friends were desperately looking for a potential match. Nearly 40 people who saw the post got tested to see if they could help, including Flynn, who didn’t even know Dentice at the time. He ended up being a perfect fit. The successful surgery happened in July, 2019.
“Brian saved my life,” says Dentice, a cable technician, 25, who got married last October. “The week of the transplant, I had about 10 percent kidney function and was about to start dialysis. But it also changed my outlook on the world, just to know there are good people out there who would do this for someone.”
Flynn says during theCOVID pandemic, he started wondering if there was more he could do to help others. That was when Dentice, now his good friend, texted him about liver donations. “Are you going to do that next?” he teased. Flynn was immediately drawn to the idea.
Billy Delfs
“Being a little hypercompetitive, I decided to challenge myself and see what I could do,” Flynn says with a laugh.
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Not soon after, they got a call saying there had been a perfect match — Brian Flynn, who was an anonymous or “altruistic” donor. Brian got the same call — he had matched with an anonymous four year old boy. Surgery was scheduled for ten days later.
It was a success, and the day after, social workers told the Ramirez’s that their donor was open to correspondence. Melissa wrote Brian a letter from Richie’s bedside, thanking him.
Flynn sobbed when he got it. “I was just overwhelmed,” he says. “Overwhelmed with gratitude that it happened and that Richie was okay. And hearing his story and how difficult it was living with this disease, and what his parents had been going through, and how appreciative they were. It really was just a great moment in life.”
Now the families are all hoping that sharing their story will inspire others to look into becoming a living donor, or even donating blood, plasma, or bone marrow, all of which are facing a shortage during the current pandemic. Flynn, for one, is a hugeadvocate for donating.
“The idea of saving a life is tremendous, but it’s also tremendous how it can make you feel,” he says. “And how it can makeyourlife better.”
If you’re interested in being a living donor, visitorgandonor.gov.
source: people.com
