“One morning I was having my quiet time and I felt God put it on my heart to do something with the good health he’d given me. An hour or so later, I was watching TV and there was a story where a woman was saying lots of people needed kidneys, but there weren’t enough available. The woman talked about living donors. I don’t think I had ever heard of a living donor program.
“I started doing some research on the UAB website and through the National Kidney Foundation. When I started seeing the statistics about dialysis and kidney failure, I knew there was no way I could back out.
“I called UAB in March 2015 and did a phone interview. I talked to the transplant coordinator and they sent me a blood pressure log. When I finished that, I also sent in my medical records from my doctor. They also needed a colonoscopy report since I am over 50. All my records were good. On April 28 I came to UAB for a urinalysis and blood test. Different members of the team talked to me and said that they would most likely take my left kidney. They called me the next day and said that I was ready to donate.
“The first week of June I got a call from UAB with a tentative date for surgery on June 16.
“I have received an unbelievable peace from God about all this. My wife was really nervous for me. I have had several surgeries in the past, but never had any invasive ones. I never really had any fear or anxiety. That really surprised me. God was in control and he gave me peace.
“My surgery was on a Thursday. The following Saturday, Dr. Locke came in and told me that my recipient was in the conference room. A lot of patients and their families were there. I got to meet my recipient, and I just cried. There weren’t really any words that were exchanged. We just hugged each other and we knew that this was a gift. He was so thankful. His wife wanted to be his donor, but was incompatible for him. But, she is going to be donating as a part of this chain in the next month or so.
“We both thanked God for everything that happened. I was just so blessed by the entire thing.
“The pain that you suffer is well-controlled by medicine and doesn’t last long. There is no changing your diet or activity level. You feel the same and move the same. There’s no real downside. You can give such a blessing because you can give the gift of life.
“It’s beyond me that someone hooked up on dialysis can’t get away from it. It’s so limiting to them. It doesn’t matter if you’re 35 or 55; you can’t live like you want to. To find out that someone can unplug you from the machine and give you life, there are no words that can describe it. I’d tell them to do it in a heartbeat.”
Jeffrey Rizzo - 45
“It’s beyond me that someone hooked up on dialysis can’t get away from it. It’s so limiting to them.… To find out that someone can unplug you from the machine and give you life, there are no words that can describe it."