Mother and Daughter Grateful to Donors
On Valentine's Day in 1989, Michelle Gillespie gave birth to her daughter, Gentry. Unexpected complications landed both mother and infant in the intensive care unit. "The first time I saw Gentry was four days later on my 39th birthday on February 18," says Michelle. "It was the most beautiful birthday gift I've ever had."
Gazing at her daughter's tiny face was truly a gift, considering less than a year earlier, Michelle underwent a cornea transplant. Michelle has keratoconus, a thinning disorder of the cornea that causes distortion, reduced vision and, in some people, eventual blindness. She received a donor cornea in her left eye in 1988, while her right eye hasn't yet deteriorated enough to warrant surgery.
"I'm very grateful to people who choose to donate their organs and tissue," says Michelle. "It is a life-saving—and in my case a vision-saving—act. My transplant has worked for 19 years." Michelle feels doubly indebted to donors, because Gentry, too, is a recipient. In 2003, she received a kidney from a living donor.
This remarkable story of mother-daughter recipients was set in motion a few days after Gentry's birth, when she was diagnosed with dysplastic kidneys. The doctors told Michelle and her husband that Gentry's abnormally small kidneys would not function adequately, and she would probably need dialysis within four months. Defying those predictions, Gentry's kidneys worked fine for 10 years before she began dialysis at home each night for nine hours while she slept.
For four years, Gentry endured this nightly routine. But by age 14, she was in end stage renal disease and required a new kidney. "I had no energy," recalls Gentry. "I would come home from school and take a nap every day." When neither of her parents was tagged as a potential living donor, Gentry reached out to her family of faith at Church of the Redeemer in Cleveland Heights. Four people volunteered to undergo testing, and the first one was a perfect match.
On August 1, 2003, Gentry received a kidney from a fellow church member, who opted to remain anonymous to the world-at-large. "He doesn't want the recognition," says Gentry. "It's just something he felt called by God to do."
His selfless act highlights the importance of living donors, who often provide the only alternative to those awaiting organ transplantation. More than 60 percent of patients on the waiting list need a kidney, and it's the most common organ supplied by living donors. But a living donor can also provide segments of his or her liver, pancreas and intestine as well as the lobe of one lung.
Since her surgery, Gentry has thrived. "I had more energy the day after my surgery than I ever had in my life," she says. On the hottest weekend of last summer, Gentry competed in the three-day Midwest Golf Association Tournament. This June, she graduated from St. Peter Chanel High School in Bedford. In the fall, Gentry will head to Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C., where she plans to major in resort management.
The confident 18-year-old is glad to share her story and show off the proof of her transplanted kidney. "It's a six-inch scar, and I'm proud of it," boasts Gentry. She understands the significance of organ donation and sums up its importance in one simple message she learned from her parents, her church and her donor: "You need to give in order to receive," says Gentry.
You have the power to save lives by becoming a registered organ and tissue donor right now or by saying "yes" when renewing your driver license or state ID at the BMV.
