The most valuable gift: Allentown woman changes a stranger's life by donating her kidney

Allentown woman changes a stranger's life by donating her kidney.

  • An anonymous donor gave kidney as a Thanksgiving gift and the recipient is Karen Forbest, director of counseling services at Lafayette College.
An anonymous donor gave kidney as a Thanksgiving gift and the recipient… (EMILY ROBSON, THE MORNING…)
November 26, 2013|By Milton D. Carrero, Of The Morning Call

The scars from the transplant surgery mean different things to each of them.

For Karen Forbes, who received a kidney last Wednesday from an anonymous donor, the scar is symbolic of her newfound hope.

"I am able to look forward to the future rather than wondering if I would have a future," said Forbes, the director of counseling services at Lafayette College. "It's just hard to fathom that someone would be so generous to a complete stranger."

For the donor, a 49-year-old woman from Allentown, the scar is a check mark on her bucket list, a testament that her life has made a difference in another's.

"When I see that scar," she said by phone Tuesday, "I would smile. To me it's not a scar. It's a smile in my belly that says: You said you would do it and you did."

The gift has had a momentous impact on Forbes' life. The 52-year-old woman was diagnosed seven years ago with a genetic condition called polycystic kidney disease, a disorder in which clusters of cysts develop that can lead the kidneys to fail.

Three years after the diagnosis, she learned that she would eventually need a kidney transplant.

The thought was a constant source of anxiety for the Doylestown mother. She would picture her family's future and agonize about the possibility of not being there with them. During the time that she spent on the transplant list, Forbes was afraid to hear the phone ring, apprehensive she would be rushed into surgery.

She was expecting to receive the organ from a deceased donor and was still coping with the idea that someone else would have to die in order for her to live longer.

Her husband, Larry Gage, was preparing their home to set up a spot where anticipated dialysis treatments could take place. Everything changed several months ago when Lehigh Valley Hospital's transplant services said that there had been "an interesting development."

A woman, aware of the national shortage for organs, had offered to donate her kidney "to someone who might need it."

Forbes knew that such arrangements, called altruistic kidney transplants, existed, and she was aware that those who receive organs from live donors generally do much better. But the possibility seemed so remote that she didn't allow herself to think about it.

"I never imagined I would be the lucky beneficiary of that gift, but I was," Forbes said Tuesday during a news conference at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

It was a rare proposition. The hospital performs an average of 60 to 70 kidney transplants every year, but very few like Forbes', according to Dr. Michael Moritz, the chief of transplant services. Altruistic kidney transplants happen less than once a year for the transplant team, said Moritz, who performed Forbes' operation.

There are more than 100,000 nationwide awaiting an organ transplant, said Dr. Lynsey Biondi, the surgeon who removed the kidney from the donor. There are 350 people on the hospital's transplant waiting list.

Family members tend to step up in most cases. Sometimes two families team up to find a match for their loved ones. But in this case, the donor simply wanted to offer something very dear to her to a person who really needed it and would value it.

Forbes' age and circumstances made her the ideal transplant candidate, Moritz said. The kidney came just in time to prevent Forbes from having to undergo dialysis.

"It's a sacrifice," the donor said. "But it's so easy to say: If I could change the world for someone, I would. And hopefully I did. What better gift to give to someone than a better way of life."

The woman chose the date for the surgery to be near Thanksgiving to give the recipient a memorable reason to celebrate, though she felt a little guilty about making the person structure their holidays around their recovery.

The donor, who agreed to speak with The Morning Call so she could explain why she had donated the organ, said she was recovering well.

"There is so much talk about buying during the holidays," the Allentown woman said. "I wanted to give a gift that goes with somebody and that is priceless."

For Forbes, the scar in her belly is a reminder that there is a "wonderful human being" out there who was willing to save her life.

"We're pretty optimistic about human beings, but this is the ultimate reinforcement of that," Forbes said. "There are probably more acts like this in the world. We probably don't hear about it."

Forbes' husband called the donor's actions heroic. The couple is already planning to travel and to enjoy the gift to the fullest.

The donor says she doesn't consider herself a hero, but had a few things to ask of Forbes. She told LVH's transplant team to pass on her requests.

First, to take care of the gift.

"Somebody really took care of this kidney for as long as they had it, and now they want to give it to you now," the donor said, adding that she never drank, smoke or used drugs.

The second: "Since she won't have to have dialysis, I'd like her to take a walk each day and think of me." 

On Tuesday, Forbes and Gage were planning the paths they intend to walk together as a way of honoring the donor.

Forbes said she'd like to meet the woman at her convenience. The donor told The Morning Call that she would be willing to meet Forbes someday.


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