September 01, 2011

The lives of ten to twelve kidney transplant patients across the country were transformed as a result of Riverside Community Hospital’s first living-donor kidney transplant chain, which began due to the generosity of Richard Ruzzamenti, a non-directed, altruistic kidney donor from Riverside.

Richard, a 43 year old yoga teacher and electrician, made a life-altering decision that set into motion a kidney donor chain at Riverside Community Hospital. Where some people are willing to donate a kidney to a relative or friend, Richard gave to someone he did not know.

The surgery took place at 2:00 pm on Monday, August 15th at Riverside Community Hospital, where the kidney was removed and then prepared to be flown to New Jersey later that evening to an unknown recipient.

When Richard was asked about his motives that led to his decision, he said, "I was talking to one of my yoga students who had donated her kidney three months ago to her cousin. I was so intrigued by her bravery and willingness to give that I went home and began to do some research on living donors. During my research, I read about the donor chain program. After three days of research, I started thinking about the possibility of becoming a donor. It sounded like a good idea, and I thought to myself, I would like to be helpful and save someone’s life." It was that day that Richard Ruzzamenti called and spoke with Shannon White, Living-Donor Coordinator at Riverside Community Hospital, to schedule an appointment.

"What Mr. Ruzzamenti did was heroic. Not everyone can do what he did.” said Dr. Wahlstrom, the transplant surgeon who performed the surgery. “However, it takes one person to initiate the chain and start the algorithm that leads to saving not only one life, but several in some chains like this one. This is an exciting time for the Transplant Center at Riverside Community Hospital as this is the first living-donor chain performed."

Dr. Wahlstrom explained, "The pairing of donors and recipients who make up a chain can take months to arrange. It is hard to begin the sequence because you need that one person to initiate the first link."

Nearly 79,000 people are on the kidney transplant waiting list in the United States, according to statistics from the United Network for Organ Sharing. California alone has some 16,240 people on the list. Most patients are waiting an average of 6-8 years for a transplant, with an average of 40%, 5-year survival on dialysis. The first donor chain was started in 2007 and has led to an increase in kidney donations of 30%.

According to the National Kidney Registry, the donor chain increases the donor pool by giving people who are unable to donate an organ to a loved one due to being incompatible, the opportunity to give a kidney to a donor pool that matches up compatible organ pairs. It is a wonderful way for one non-directed donor to help dozens of people receive transplants instead of just one person. If the person donating has a loved one on the donor recipient waiting list, that person will then move up that list.

Through people like Richard Ruzzamenti, who went home on Thursday, August 18, Riverside Community Hospital hopes that this will encourage others to consider donating. For more information on how to donate, visit http://www.kidneyregistry.org/living_donors.php or call 951.788.3463.