Altruistic Donors Boost Hopes for Those Waiting for Kidney Transplant

The following article is from the Daily Herald.

Their stories amaze.

Brenda Bogue, a 44-year-old physical therapist and marathon runner who lives in Schaumburg, was inspired to donate one of her kidneys by a story she read last summer in the Daily Herald.

It was about a man in St. Charles who donated a kidney, inspired by the example of his daughter, who had signed up as an organ donor before she died at age 17 in a car accident.

Before reading the story, Bogue hadn’t realized being a living donor was an option.

“To me, it was kind of like, why wouldn’t I?” Bogue said as she was preparing to return to work a week after the laparoscopic surgery Dec. 30. She’s also signed up to run another marathon in September.

While the decision to give up a kidney might seem overwhelming, people who have done it say it really isn’t that hard and it’s incredibly rewarding.

Bogue’s donation completed the missing link in a set of matched pairs that allowed three people, including Donald Fradkin, 76, of Deerfield, and Adriane Price, 43, of Wadsworth, to get new kidneys.

For donor Scott Kalkis, 28, a casual conversation at a company Christmas party led to a donation.

Kalkis, who manages the Firestone Complete Auto Care at the Fox Valley Shopping Center in Aurora, ran into the manager of another Firestone store at the party in 2009 and thought he looked unwell.

“I didn’t know how sick he was, but you could tell he wasn’t right.”

Carlos Cerda, 57, who now manages the Batavia store, told Kalkis he needed a kidney transplant, but he thought one of his two daughters would be able to supply it.

Kalkis volunteered to step in if needed. “It was actually real easy,” he said of making his promise.

Months later, with minor health issues making his daughters ineligible as donors, Cerda recalled Kalkis’ comment and, with trepidation, asked if he was serious.

Kalkis, of Plainfield, said he was. It wasn’t until Cerda, of Lockport, brought over a stack of paperwork, though, that he realized the enormity of his promise. He didn’t waiver.

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