The Season of Giving: A Story of a Colleague’s Need for a Kidney

In a perfect fit for the season of giving, Dr. Raja Kandaswamy, Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplants in our Department of Surgery, recently conducted a kidney transplant between two colleagues from PreferredOne.

Jackie Francis saw a Facebook post in February in which officemate Deb Chorzempa stated she was in dire need of a kidney. Thankfully, the two were a medical match and Chorzempa was able to successfully receive a kidney from Francis. This generosity shown by Francis was able to save a life of her coworker.

“Nearly 50,000 [Americans] die annually of kidney failure and there are 120,000 on the kidney-transplant list of UNOS [United Network for Organ Sharing],” Dr. Kandaswamy says in an interview with the Star Tribune. “In Minnesota, there are up to 3,000 patients waiting. The transplant not only improves the quality of life, but extends [recipient] lives by about seven years on average.”