ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Rochester woman in need of a kidney transplant and her family are taking an old-school approach to finding a donor: lawn signs.
Anna Tomasso was born with a rare genetic syndrome that, among other things, affects her ability to speak. She has known since she was a child that she could need a kidney transplant.
Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “You knew as early as 10 years old that this was a possibility.”
Anna Tomasso, in need of a kidney transplant: “Yes, among many other things. I’m upset that it’s happening but I’m not hit over the head by it.”
Ellen Tomasso, mother: “I feel hit over the head by it.”
Ellen, Anna’s mother, got the idea from a co-worker to put signs on her car, and her sister suggested lawn signs. The calls started coming in from people interested in seeing if they could donate a kidney.
One caller told Ellen that her own daughter had died from kidney failure. “And she said if I can help your daughter that would be wonderful,” Ellen recounted. “And I’m thinking, yes it would.”
News10NBC’s Berkeley Brean spoke with Dr. Randeep Kashyap, a kidney transplant surgeon at Strong Memorial Hospital, about families making public pleas for transplant help.
Dr. Randeep Kashyap, kidney transplant surgeon, URMC: “I think it’s absolutely a great thing that they do that.”
Strong actually encourages people to find a living donor. “There are over 100,000 waiting for a kidney transplant. And the number of organs we receive from patients who have passed away and their families opt for donation, is only about 30,000,” Dr. Kashyap explained.
Anna is one of 400 people on the waiting list at Strong. She isn’t worried about the transplant happening in time. “No, I’ve had a lot of surgery in my life. So this is just another one,” she said.
People are typically on the waiting list for four to five years. Anything they can do to find a living donor can shorten that time.
Click here for the state’s “Living Donor Support Program.”
Click here for UR Medicine’s Living Donor Kidney Transplant website or call (585) 275-7753
Being a living donor is a difficult choice, especially for a stranger. The state tries to help financially by paying the donor’s wages while they recover. The insurance of the person receiving the organ pays for everything else.
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