Facebook aids organ donation

HERE'S another reason to join the social media site Facebook: it's a great place to find a kidney.

Between the children's photos and reminiscences about high school, more and more pleas for help from people with failing kidneys are popping up.

Facebook and other social media sites are quickly becoming a go-to place to find a generous person with a kidney to spare, according to the people asking for help and some national organisations that facilitate matches.

Damon Brown found a kidney on Facebook after telling his story on a special page the Seattle dad created under the name, "Damon Kidney".

His friends and family forwarded the link to everyone they knew and on January 3 a woman his wife has known for years, but not someone they consider a close family friend, will be giving him a kidney.

"She said it wasn't really for me. It was for my kids, because they deserve to have a dad around," Mr Brown, 38, said.

Mr Brown's story is not unique. This past year, a man in Michigan also found a kidney donor through Facebook, and a Florida woman found one through Craigslist.

In 2007, Woodbridge mother of three Michelle Eather gave her kidney to American businessman Ronnie Andrews, whom she met on the internet.

Damon Brown admits he was a little embarrassed to ask for help so publicly. Except for telling close friends and family, the Seattle father of two young boys had been keeping his illness pretty quiet.

He was on the official transplant list and had started mobile dialysis but was seeing his health deteriorate.

After one particularly difficult visit with his doctor, Damon and his wife, Bethany, decided to create the Facebook page, which has attracted more than 1400 friends.

Jacqueline Ryall, 45, said she felt a need to donate a kidney to Mr Brown to give back her own good health and all she has been given. She's not a mother and gushed about how beautiful Damon and Bethany's kids are.

"The real reason I'm doing this is he's got kids and he's a good guy," she said

"My life is in a good place. I've been given lots and I have a responsibility to give back."

After some research, Ms Ryall decided it's relatively safe for a woman in good health to donate a kidney.

If something is going to go wrong with her own kidneys, she has heard they usually fail in twos.

"Right now it feels like absolutely the right thing to do," she said, adding that she hopes her decision will help make other people less afraid to do the same thing.

Source: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/01/02/289125_most-popular-stories.html

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