Organ donors are selfless heroes
Presents make people happy. Whether it’s a birthday, Christmas, graduation or bar mitzvah gift, many enjoy giving and even more revel in receiving.
Morgan Yoney and Diana Zippay are especially appreciative of the largess of others this summer. Each got the gift of life, a gift that will keep on giving.
These two area women were in serious need of kidney transplants a month ago. Yoney, 23, of Spraggs, had a second double-lung transplant in December and knew she eventually would need a kidney. Zippay, a mother of two from Monongahela, has Alport syndrome, a genetic condition that damages organs.
Zippay had surgery Tuesday, Yoney seven days earlier – thanks to the kindness and selflessness of two living donors, who put themselves at risk to help others. A healthy donor can live with one kidney, but could be subject to long-term problems.
It wasn’t a surprise that after finding out she was a perfect match, Tammy Yoney gave Morgan one of her kidneys. “I think any mother would do that,” Tammy told the Observer-Reporter’s Katie Anderson.
Morgan’s life has been a battle. As a baby, she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that clogs a person’s lungs and digestive system with mucus. Organ transplants often result. Morgan had a double-lung/liver transplant in 2010, but her body rejected the lungs three years later, necessitating another surgery. She waited three years for the followup transplant, which exacted a toll on her kidneys.
“So many times, we’ve been knocking on death’s door,” Tammy said. “The average wait for a kidney is six years, and I don’t know if she would have made it that long without a kidney.”
Diana Zippay’s situation was similar in that she needed a new organ and her family played a significant role in acquiring one. But, unlike the Yoneys, she wasn’t close to the donor who made her transplant possible, Melissa Deighan, and did not receive Deighan’s kidney.
Deighan, of Baldwin Borough, knew the Zippay family through her niece, who was dating Diana’s nephew. But Deighan wasn’t aware of Diana’s plight until she saw a video the Zippay children, Bailey and Tobias, put on social media, saying “Our mommy needs a kidney!” The video went viral and roused national attention.
“I could not stand the thought of those little kids having to live the rest of their lives without their mom,” said Deighan, who decided to participate in a paired donation. Her kidney was not a match with Diana, but compatible with someone else, and her donation resulted in Diana getting a match from someone else.
Organ donations save lives and enhance lives, and are done more routinely with the passage of time. The difficulty for would-be recipients is enduring a waiting list for a match.
Tammy Yoney and Melissa Deighan – and all donors – are to be commended for saving and/or making another person’s life better.