Live kidney donor saves life of nephew

Margaret McDonald’s highlighting the importance of organ donation for Be A Donor Month.

She donated a kidney to her nephew Peter Murphy 15 years ago when both of his abruptly started to fail at the age of 33.

McDonald said Murphy had no known pre-existing health issues, there’s no family history of kidney disease and to this day, doctor’s do not know what caused his kidney’s to fail.

As a live donor, McDonald underwent pre-transplant testing and after she was cleared, had the surgery on a Thursday and was out of hospital on Sunday.

She called the recovery “a piece of cake,” and never had to fill the prescription she was given for extra strength Tylenol.

McDonald said like most live donors, she’s had no health issues following the transplant, and her nephew remains very healthy.

She notes there’s no financial burden for going through this process.

There are organizations in Ontario which reimburse donors for any incidental costs incurred such as gas, food and hotels.

Learn more about organ donation at beadonor.ca

Story by Grant Deme

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