“Good Samaritan” Says Pulling a Tooth Is More Painful Than Giving Up His Kidney |
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Sections - Health and Medicine | |||
Friday, 25 June 2010 16:02 | |||
By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA (Journal Group Link International) “Good Samaritan” Says Pulling a Tooth Is More Painful Than Giving Up His Kidney C HICAGO (JGLi) – The stranger, who donated a healthy kidney to Filipino American Myra de la Vega, said having his tooth removed by a dentist is more painful than having his kidney removed. Pitching his generous act of giving away his kidney as more of a Christian charity than a family obligation, Daniel S. Coyne is telling others with healthy kidneys that donating one of their two kidneys is not just extending the life of another. It also lessens the pain and gives comfort to those people with renal failure. Coyne, a special education teacher of the He added the Mr. Coyne, who is in his early fifties, said he was moved to donate his kidney to Ms. De La Vega because “I want to help her live. I was moved by her predicament with her kidney failure. And with the dialysis, I understand, is very difficult, grueling process – a lifestyle that is very expensive to maintain – and the medication. I also want to improve her lifestyle.” He said if Myra, a native of Calamba, Laguna in the Philippines, finds new hope and reason to live, she would be able to see her children graduate from high school and college and become married and would be able to hold her grandchildren on her lap someday. Mr. Coyne hopes and prays that many others, who are suffering like When asked if he was scared at the entire kidney donation, Mr. Coyne said he did a little research of his own. He came to the conclusion that the longitudinal study of kidney donors over the last 30 years showed that the life expectancy of kidney donors is the same as the general population of those who do not donate. There is a slight chance that in some operation a donor would die due to some bleeding or accident but it is rare. Based on statistics, it is more dangerous to drive a car on a highway that this operation, he said. Because of the publicity generated by his donation, Coyne said some of his friends have now checked off in the donor’s section of their driver’s license that they are also donating their kidneys or other organs. One even asked him, “What am I doing with this extra kidney?” He said he has been checking off the donor’s section of his driver’s license since 1976 and every renewal of his driver’s license. Mr. Coyne said he is now feeling great. He was just off for one week after the operation. He is back to his normal eating habits and had stopped his pain killing medications three days after the operation on He said his wife, Emily, a registered nurse, and his children Julia, 11, and Isaac, who is starting high school next year, all approved of his donation. They did not know ORGAN IS NOT FOR At the operation, there was laparoscopy procedure, where they bore three small holes in his body used on surgical tools and an incision on his beltline that were done while he was asleep. When he woke up, he felt a little discomfort from seal gas and abdominal cavity. And he was walking less than 24 hours after the surgery. He did 20 laps around the hospital. "Pulling a tooth is more painful than giving up my kidney," he said. Both his supervisor and his co-employees were supportive of him. His supervisor even suggested of giving him a one-year paid leave, by asking his co-employees to donate sick leaves. He said he was laughing because he only needed two to three days off. Although, he does not have a change in his eating habit, Coyne said he has now found a new taste for Filipino food – "Filipino feast – that was served on us by When asked if he harbored thoughts of selling his kidney, Coyne said, “I believe the human body is sacred – made in God’s image. It is not for sale through slavery or prostitution or otherwise. To sell an organ is unethical and immoral. “I believe helping another live should be unconditional and free. Certainly, the decision to donate kidney should be done through prayers and family support.” He said the average annual cost of dialysis patient is about $500,000 a year; and most dialysis patients are in dialysis for five years before they get organs. So the average cost is $3-million to $5-million. “By giving my kidney, I was able to save $3-million for
One way to look at the donation from Christian perspective, Coyne said is that it will lead to a better quality of life. At the end of the interview, this reporter asked Mr. Coyne if he was aware that as a non-resident of Editor’s Notes: To contact the author, please e-mail him at: (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
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