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|  | Picture taken at the 2006 Transplant Games.
In November 2004, I was blessed with the gift of
life from an anonymous kidney donor. Our personal information was kept from each other until we both professed
interest to Marta, our transplant coordinator, that we wanted to meet. Just before Christmas 2004, we were able
to meet for the first time. It was friendship at first sight. We couldn't believe we had so much in common. What
was even stranger was Eileen lived a few miles away from me in Colchester, Vermont. Since our first meeting, we have
become fast friends, and meet often to catch up on the latest transplant news.
I
met my husband when he was stationed with the US Air Force in England.
We married in 1983 and I followed him to various countries, including Japan and Italy, during his 20 years of active
duty. We both enjoyed traveling and seeing other cultures, making new friends, and learning about the wonderful things
these countries had to teach us.Today, he's ritired from the Air Force and the Vermont Air National Guard. He has
various hobbies to keep us both busy when not
flying internationally for a major airline. My Mother and brother Paul still live in England along with many friends and extended family. We try
to return at least once a year to catch up on the news on the other side of the pond. We still have Sophie, who has us both trained
well. 
EILEEN ROONEY, JENNIFER DUDLEYColchester, VT Special Friendship Forms between Anonymous Kidney Donor and her Recipient
Most people develop close friendships at school, the office or
around the neighborhood. Not Eileen Rooney and Jennifer Dudley. Their friendship began when Eileen gave a piece
of herself away to a total stranger. . Five years ago, while Eileen, 44, was working as the evening manager of the Ronald McDonald House in
Burlington, Vermont she witnessed the distress a family was undergoing as their child, who was suffering from kidney
failure, waited for a new organ. Eileen began exploring whether she could offer one of her kidneys to the young boy
but, he died before anything could be done. Nonetheless, she decided to pursue donating a kidney anonymously and honor
the boy's memory. Eileen's
Fortunate Recipient As a toddler, Jennifer Dudley underwent surgery to remove a 10-pound tumor, the result of kidney cancer.
Cobalt radiation treatments followed. As a young woman she met and married Ted Dudley, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot stationed
in England. After the couple settled in Vermont, Jennifer’s kidney problems returned and her name was put on the transplant
waiting list. Soon thereafter,
Jennifer learned that there was a donor kidney available. The two surgeries took place successfully in adjoining operating
rooms. Since the donation was anonymous, the transplant coordinator was careful to keep the patients and their families from
bumping into each other in the hospital hallways. With
a new kidney, Jennifer recovered quickly. “I didn't know how bad I felt before,” she said. “Now I feel really,
really good.” The recovery for donor Eileen was swift too. Eight days following the surgery, despite frowns from
her transplant coordinator and reluctance from her surgeon to condone the plan, Eileen went kayaking. “I was just
so thankful that I was healthy and wanted my transplant coordinator to relay to my recipient that I was feeling really okay,”
recalls Eileen. When Eileen
finally met Jennifer, the woman who had received her anonymous donation of a kidney, the two laughed, cried and discovered
they had more than a kidney in common.Their meeting and ensuing friendship was a happy conclusion to a story that began when
the two participated in one of only 84 kidney transplants involving living donor and recipient who were absolute strangers
After their first meeting, a close friendship has grown between them that “goes beyond the transplant” as Eileen
would say. They speak or see each other every week, sharing tidbits about their lives and work and go to concerts, shop for
clothes, try new restaurants and attend baseball games. The two also team up to advance the cause of organ donation.
Recently, Eileen convinced her company to provide paid leave for organ and blood donation. In addition, she and Jennifer
spoke to the company employees about the importance of organ donation. Just like most friendships, their partners have gotten to know each other, too, as have their
families. Jennifer, whose own mother is in England and whose father is deceased, has “adopted” Eileen’s
parents, sending them cards on Mother’s and Father’s Day, dropping off rhubarb from her garden or taking them
for a spin on her boat. Every year on the anniversary of the transplant, Jennifer and Eileen plan a special day for
just the two of them. At a local spa, they each have a massage, sit by the pool, enjoy a tasty lunch and celebrate their
lives and friendship. |
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