Giving a kidney to a stranger

Messiah College Professor of Engineering Don Pratt donated a kidney to a complete stranger—all because of a radio ad. Last year, he happened to hear a commercial from the National Kidney Registry about something called a kidney-donor chain, which creates opportunities for multiple donor-recipient matches.
“I had an overwhelming sense that this was something that God was calling me to do,” said Pratt.

A kidney donor chain begins only with an altruistic donor— in this case, Pratt—someone who wants to donate a kidney out of the goodness of his heart. That kidney is transplanted into a recipient who had a donor willing to give a kidney, but was not a match.

“Let’s say your husband needs a kidney,” he explained. “You want to donate, but you’re not a match for him. But if you’re put into the database, maybe you’re a match for someone unrelated to you, maybe a guy in Kansas. So, through this chain, multiple transplants occur on the same day.”

The day before surgery, Pratt read his Bible for encouragement. The doctors told him he could change his mind at any point—even as he was being wheeled into the operating room. But, he remained committed. After all, a chain of people depended on him to get the ball rolling.

I looked at verses on giving, thinking about how God gave us such a precious gift of His Son; how Jesus chose to give not a piece of Himself or an extra organ, but His very life for us,” he said. “I was utterly humbled.

Pratt says he timed the laparoscopic surgery during Christmas break. He returned to Messiah for spring semester and a full load of teaching.

“I’m completely recovered now, and I was able to go to Cambodia during spring break,” he said.

Also, he recently a dinner honoring altruistic donors in New York City. “I don’t have the stats, but apparently there are not very many people crazy enough to do this kind of thing.”

— Jake Miaczynski ’20 and Anna Seip