Boston woman's donation creates 3rd-longest kidney transplant chain, saving 28 people
Nearly 100,000 people in U.S. are waiting desperately for kidneys
Nearly 100,000 people in U.S. are waiting desperately for kidneys
Nearly 100,000 people in U.S. are waiting desperately for kidneys
A lot of people love Christine Gentry.
"I wouldn't be here without her," said Henrietta Oparah. "She's numero uno for me."
Gentry made a decision last year that saved not only Oparah, but also 27 other people, all waiting desperately for a new kidney.
Oparah remembers getting the call from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
"She said, 'You have a kidney,'" Oparah recalled. "She said, 'You have almost the perfect match.' And I just burst out crying."
The kidney that Oparah received was the last organ donated in the third-longest chain of kidney transplants in the world.
And it all started with Gentry.
"They almost always need someone like me -- a good Samaritan donor -- to kick it off," she said.
In Massachusetts right now, there are 2,265 people waiting for a kidney. Nationally, the list has 97,393 names.
When Gentry learned a friend of hers was on it, she went through the long process to donate and was approved. However, her friend found a better match, leaving Gentry with a choice.
"I know how many people are on the waiting list," Gentry said. "I know I am healthy enough to do it. I can't justify not doing that for a stranger. I just want to give it to someone."
She said she called the Brigham with her offer.
Doctors there sent Gentry's medical information to the National Kidney Registry.
"The computer takes all of my data and figures out who in the country could I give my kidney to that would kick off the longest chain," she explained.
The spreadsheet for Chain 459 shows when the Brigham sent Gentry's kidney to Ohio, it triggered a domino line of donated kidneys for patients throughout the country.
"I didn't have anyone attached to me," Gentry said. "So at the end of the chain, there was a leftover kidney that was owed to Brigham and Women's. So that's why [Oparah] got it."
Oparah is still staggered by Gentry's decision.
"To talk to someone who didn't know any of us from a stump on a log or something, you know, went and put herself through that type of surgery," Oparah said. "That's just, that's incredible to me."
Oparah said she got a gift, but Gentry said she did too.
"It's the greatest honor of my life," Gentry said, sitting next to Oparah. "Even if Henrietta was the only person on the list, that day and all the hard days would be so worth it."
Gentry said she has met other patients in her transplant chain, but hopes one day to meet them all.
She said she always asks them one question: What can you do now that you couldn't do before?
Gentry said their emotional answers inspire her and confirm, she made the right choice.