Gift of life’ by a neighbor. An 84-year-old man from Texas saves neighbor’s life, becomes the oldest living kidney donor.
Frank Dewhurst at age 84, is the oldest living kidney donor in the United States and might also be the most helpful & generous neighbor when he knocked on his deceased 72-year-old neighbor’s door and offered to help her out.
Last summer, he noticed a sign asking for a type-O kidney donor in front of his neighbor- Nall’s yard. He had also seen the signs she had put on the back of her car, as well as her social media posts. The sign paused him as he was type O+. Dewhurst had known his neighbor was struggling with kidney issues, but after seeing the sign he talked it over with his wife and decided to help. Dewhurst said, “I walked up there, opened the door, I am here to offer you my kidney. I have one handicap… my age”. Nall thought he knocked on the door to tell her to take down the sign as Frank was the past president of the Homeowner’s Association and is still very actively involved.
Nall said “When he told me, he wanted to give me his kidney, I was shocked. It’s an incredible thing he has done for me and I am so grateful,”. Dewhurst left the hospital within 48 hours after surgery and is already back to exercising and restarted normal activities.
Since 1986, his neighbor, Linda Nall, had been struggling with lupus and the disease started to attack her kidneys in 2001. Dewhurst observed that she had trouble getting out of her car and she had to maintain a strict diet.
More than 1,00,000 people are waiting for kidneys and only one out of three of these patients are transplanted within three years. Nearly 5 percent of these people die every year waiting. Transplant through living donation can be done in three to four months and can either prevent the need for dialysis or shorten the time spent on such a cumbersome therapy. According to research, in 2018, 5 percent of kidney donors nationally were older than 65. If more older adults donated, fewer people would remain on the list.
Nall said that she will now spend more time with family and friends and socialize more. She lived a long time not being able to eat and do what she wanted and now she is going to make the most of Frank’s generous gift and live life to the fullest.