In the summer of 2007, South Salem resident Jennifer Flood, received a call from her sister Heather. Their father, who was diagnosed with chronic renal failure, needed a kidney within the next six months or he would need to begin dialysis. He was on a national waiting list, but the list was long – it would take two to six years to receive a kidney from a cadaver donor. The women, along with their sister Cynthia, knew they weren’t a match, and they also knew their dad couldn’t wait.
They turned to Craigslist and posted a desperate plea: “Please help me find a kidney for my dad.” They received a response from a man who they learned was mentally unstable, several responses from people offering to sell their kidneys (which is illegal), emails of support and then nothing. In October, a local news reporter ran their story, and their story went national. Over the next year and a half, they received thousands of responses nationwide, and they eventually found a match from a woman in California. Their father successfully received his new kidney on December 12, 2008, and they began Flood Sisters Kidney Foundation to help others find a match.
“Today, we provide living kidney donor matching services to those in need nationwide,” says Jennifer, the foundation’s president. “We have coordinated 14 transplants to date. The best type of donor is a living donor because their kidney is going to last longer than an organ that’s been sitting in preservatives. Those kidneys don’t often work right away. They have to jumpstart it and put the recipient on dialysis.”
In the summer of 2007, South Salem resident Jennifer Flood, received a call from her sister Heather. Their father, who was diagnosed with chronic renal failure, needed a kidney within the next six months or he would need to begin dialysis. He was on a national waiting list, but the list was long – it would take two to six years to receive a kidney from a cadaver donor. The women, along with their sister Cynthia, knew they weren’t a match, and they also knew their dad couldn’t wait.
They turned to Craigslist and posted a desperate plea: “Please help me find a kidney for my dad.” They received a response from a man who they learned was mentally unstable, several responses from people offering to sell their kidneys (which is illegal), emails of support and then nothing. In October, a local news reporter ran their story, and their story went national. Over the next year and a half, they received thousands of responses nationwide, and they eventually found a match from a woman in California. Their father successfully received his new kidney on December 12, 2008, and they began Flood Sisters Kidney Foundation to help others find a match.
“Today, we provide living kidney donor matching services to those in need nationwide,” says Jennifer, the foundation’s president. “We have coordinated 14 transplants to date. The best type of donor is a living donor because their kidney is going to last longer than an organ that’s been sitting in preservatives. Those kidneys don’t often work right away. They have to jumpstart it and put the recipient on dialysis.”
Miere Santos
Now, they’re hoping to help Miere Santos, a 44-year-old single mom of a 10-year-old daughter. Originally from Brazil, Miere works as a nanny and housekeeper and lives in Greenwich, CT.
“We’ve been working with Miere for a while, and down to the wire here,” says Jennifer. “She’s definitely close to chronic renal failure, which is the last stage before dialysis. Her kidney functioning is now at 10 percent, and most people are ready for transplant and/or dialysis at 18 percent or less kidney functioning. Luckily, she’s stable, so they haven’t started dialysis yet. But it could be any day now.”
They came close to finding a match right before the holidays, but the donor “got cold feet and just kind of disappeared,” she says. “It was really strange – she just stopped texting back. I even called her and said, ‘It’s fine if you’re not interested. I just want to talk with you and support you. And nothing.”
Santos needs a donor who has A or O blood type. To help raise awareness, the three women who are sponsoring Santos are hosting an event on January 29 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Mount Vernon, hoping to cater to the Brazilian community. Santos will speak via video at the event. Her sponsors hope this event will encourage more people to get tested.
Miere and her daughter
According to the National Kidney Foundation, about 92,000 people are waiting for a kidney, but The Flood Sisters Kidney Foundation helps people bypass the list.
“A complete stranger can often be a better match than your own family,” says Jennifer. “To be a donor, you must be extremely healthy, which means no prior history of cancer, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and autoimmune diseases,” Jennifer explains. “Depending on the hospital, if you’re overweight, they they’ll usually with work with you to get you on a better diet regime and exercise more. Or, if your cholesterol is a little high, they’ll try to work with you because that’s such a small situation compared to having a kidney condition.”
It’s perfectly safe to live with one kidney, according to Jennifer, who was born with just one kidney.
“You could live very well with one kidney, as long as you take care of it,” she says. “You should drink a lot of water and not a lot of alcohol. With a healthy a diet and taking care of yourself, you’ll be fine.”
Potential living donors can reach out to the organization by calling 646-715-8976 or [email protected].
Gia Miller is an award-winning journalist and the editor-in-chief/co-publisher of Connect to Northern Westchester. She has a magazine journalism degree (yes, that's a real thing) from the University of Georgia and has written for countless national publications, ranging from SELF to The Washington Post. Gia desperately wishes schools still taught grammar. Also, she wants everyone to know they can delete the word "that" from about 90% of their sentences, and there's no such thing as "first annual." When she's not running her media empire, Gia enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, laughing at her crazy dog and listening to a good podcast. She thanks multiple alarms, fermented grapes and her amazing husband for helping her get through each day. Her love languages are food and humor.
