The View from a Drawbridge

When I was 8 and my sister was 18, she was getting a lot of kidney infections. One day she said to me, “If I needed a kidney, would you give me one of yours?” Naturally I said yes, but looking at that conversation through an adult lens, I think that’s a HORRIBLE promise to exact from an 8 year old! How gruesome and stressful.

Anyway, that made me think of a story a friend of mine told me a while back which has stayed with me. He had a friend who needed a kidney. Her sibling was the best possible match of course, but she refused to do it. I was shocked that someone wouldn’t move heaven and earth to save her own sister’s life, but there you have it. (Maybe she should have asked when said sibling was 8.)

Anyway, my friend decided to see if he was a match, and against all odds, he was. He didn’t think twice. He immediately subjected himself to a series of tests, and he passed each one. That alone makes him a hero in my book.

It was really looking like it was going to be a go. All he had was one last test, which would determine the health of both his kidneys. You can’t leave someone with only one kidney if that kidney isn’t properly functioning. That makes perfect sense to me. So his friend is getting ready to get his kidney, thinking they were close to the promised land, that she would be rescued, but this final test discovered something. My friend only HAD one kidney in the first place. So naturally the donation had to be called off.

So not only does he now have to wrap his brain around the fact that he’s gone through his entire life with only one kidney without even realizing it, but he also is faced with the fact that he cannot save his friend despite all his efforts. Tragic. Tragic beyond words.