PINE BELT, Miss. - Call it a fluke, miracle or a wink from God, two Pine Belt residents are recovering and spending the holidays at home after receiving life-changing kidney transplants.
“You have to understand,” kidney recipient Jeff Hughes told WDAM. " When you have kidney failure, you either have (three) options: you go on dialysis, or a transplant or you pass away. Those are the three options.”
Learning that you need an organ donation is made even more complicated when the ones closest to you aren’t a match.
That’s what happen to Hughes and 16-year-old Dakota White while seeking treatment at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson earlier this year.
Hughes' sister-in-law Kathy Rayborn immediately said she'd try to be a match. She wasn't.
White was told her mom, Amanda, was not a match either.
UMMC administrators realized that an internal kidney swap could save both lives.
An internal swap is when someone willing to donate isn't a match for that person but someone else, according to Dr. Chris Anderson, chairman of UMMC’s Department of Surgery.
If there are enough mismatch pairs, at some point, you will be able to swap” he said.
In a twist of fate, Hughes’ sister-in-law was an exact match for White, and White’s mom was an exact match for Hughes. It was a historic first for UMMC. (WDAM 12/27/23) Miracle internal kidney swap saves two lives at UMMC (wdam.com)
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