Dawn Xiana Moon: Melodic folk pop infused with passion and honesty. From Chicago.

Randomness Archives • Blogroll Me! • Atom XML Feed • RSS Feed

Sunday, March 16, 2003

My Dad in International News

This is so crazy... my family's from Singapore, where my grandparents still live, and somehow the story about my dad's recent kidney transplant made it into the Straits Times, Singapore's largest (I think) newspaper. Check it out: Stranger, your kidney saved my life.... Part of the reason it's newsworthy all the way over there--halfway around the world--is because in Singapore the laws currently state that donors have to be related; obviously that's not how things work in the US.

Here's the story that appeared on the front page of the Redford Observer, the local paper from my hometown, coming at the story from a slightly different (read: human interest story) angle (though I mass emailed it to most of my friends, so you may have read it already):

Redford Observer, Feb 27, 2003
Divine help: Fellow parishioner gives kidney

By Diane Gale Andreassi
Correspondent

Andy Low of Redford is doing well after receiving a kidney donated by an acquaintance who also attends Dunning Park Bible Church.

Donating a kidney to a family member is a tremendous gift, but when you barely know the recipient it becomes an extraordinary act.

A 25-year-old Redford man underwent a three-hour operation and a four-week recovery period for a church acquaintance. He didn't want his name publicized. "It was kept a secret for a long time," the donor said. "I didn't want it to turn into me being some great guy. I didn't want that to be what it's about."

Andy Low, a 48-year-old Redford man, received his new kidney Feb. 10 and says it not only saved his life, but the future of his family. Without the transplant, Low says, he couldn't have continued working at Electrodynamics, a Livonia engineering business he operates with his wife, Cathy.

Before the operation, the type of kidney dialysis he received forced him to spend a day, every three days, at the hospital hooked to a machine, said Low, who has two children, Dawn, 21 and Benjamin, 19, attending college.

The donor and Low describe what they believe are acts of God before, during and after the operation.

For instance, they were surprised to learn that their blood, tissue and even some antibodies closely matched. In fact, the similar antibodies mean Low needs less medication after the operation.

'Divine intervention'

"The doctor told me that he would be hard-pressed to find a related donor with a closer match," Low said. "This is truly divine intervention. We're talking about someone who is half my age. I'm Asian and he's Caucasian. To get as close a match is impossible."

Their lives are dissimilar, too. Low came to the United States from Singapore 15 years ago. The donor, who grew up in Dearborn, plays guitar in a local rock and pop band and also works with a company that detects Internet intrusion.

"It was pretty evident that I was supposed to do this," the donor said, pointing to the similarities in their blood, tissue and antibodies.

Their one commonality is that they attend the same nondenominational Redford church, Dunning Park Bible. Low and the donor knew of one another, but weren't really friends.

"That he would do this kind of thing is amazing," Low said. "I think it's a testimony to Christian love. It's not like we were buddies. He came up and volunteered for it and stuck with it for two years."

In fact, three other members of the 50-year-old church, a small congregation of less than 250 people, volunteered to donate their kidneys. There was never a plea for a donor, only prayers for Low to get better.

The donor underwent blood tests, physical exams and met with the surgeon and a social worker to make sure he was a good donor candidate. The transplant changed Low's life.

Since the operation, Low's kidney function is 94 percent before it was less than 5 percent. "I'm feeling quite literally great," Low says. "Most people are amazed that the recovery is so quick."

The donor took two weeks off work on a short-term disability leave and recently began working from home for two weeks. Doctors said he wouldn't be allowed to drive for four weeks after the operation. But, since last Monday the donor hasn't taken painkillers and he believes he will drive sooner.

'His Example'

When asked why he would he go through all this pain and suffering for a someone he barely knew, the donor says: "I saw he was in need and someone needed to. People knew what Jesus had done for them and this really paled in comparison. I'm just following His example."

The donor said he admired Low at church. "I would love hearing him talk, because he was into science and numbers and he would give these really fascinating facts about different things, like the vastness of God's creation and stuff like that," the donor said. "It always blew me away."

Even on the day of the surgery, he and Low prayed for a miraculous healing without the operations. "It has been so much better having gone through it than if he were to be healed miraculously," the donor said.

Many good things have come from the operations, the donor added, referring to church members who organized a 24-hour prayer and fasting vigil surrounding the surgery.

"Most of the church members had no idea there was so much of this practical self-sacrificing love going on until Andy revealed it in a speech of gratitude the day before the surgery," said Holly Giannola, a Farmington resident, who recently wrote the Redford Observer about these two men.

The kidney donation has also created a lifelong friendship.

"His family has kind of taken me in as almost another child," the donor said. "They're an awesome family and my family got to know them in the waiting room during the surgery."

In a world when so many people are consumed by their busy schedules, this kind of sacrifice is extraordinary, said Giannola, who added: "But, when the divine hand reaches down and touches people with His love, miraculous things happen."

^ Top | 11:53 PM | | |