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Donated organ from co-worker gives boss a
new life
Charlie Ward, left, a
director of public safety at The Methodist
Hospital received a kidney transplant with
an organ donated by Joshua Phipps, a manager
to reports to him at the hospital. Both were
doing well and released from the hospital
within days of the Jan. 8 surgery at
Methodist.
Newswise
— A hospital employee in Houston started
2008 by giving his boss the best gift of
all, a gift that saved his life.
On Jan. 8 Charlie Ward, a director of public
safety at The Methodist Hospital, received a
kidney from one of his employees. Ward, 54,
could have spent as long as five years on a
transplant waiting list, but four of his
co-workers stepped up to be potential
donors.
Joshua Phipps, a manager of public safety,
turned out to be a good cross match so he
agreed to donate a kidney to his boss.
“I have two and Charlie needs one in order
to live,” said Phipps. “(Donating a kidney)
is absolutely the right thing to do.”
Just a few days after the transplant Ward
was recovering and had plenty of energy to
walk down the hospital hallway and visit his
co-worker. “What do you say to a guy who
gives you one of his kidneys?” he said. “Any
expression of gratitude that I can come up
with would be totally inadequate.”
All his life Ward had polycystic kidney
disease, a genetic disorder that causes
cysts to grow in the kidneys. PKD causes
reduced kidney function and kidney failure
and eventually most people with it will have
end-stage renal failure.
That happened to Ward last August. He
“crashed” and had to be taken to The
Methodist Hospital’s emergency department.
He then underwent home dialysis but realized
it was inevitable he would need a
transplant.
Methodist co-workers stepped forward to
become donors for Ward, who has worked at
the hospital for more than 20 years. Ward
was at first surprised, then delighted, that
Phipps cross-matched.
“He’s one of the most remarkable young men
I’ve ever met,” Ward said. “He is very
modest about this but it means everything to
me.”
Almost as soon as he left post-op, Ward was
on his feet to visit Phipps, who is 33. “I
certainly do feel younger,” quipped Ward,
answering an unasked question.
For his part, Phipps was surprised how easy
the transplant process was. “We have a great
team (at Methodist and the Methodist
Transplant Center) that certainly made it
easier for me,” he said.
A living donor kidney is the best quality
organ that a patient can receive, because
the donor is tested thoroughly before being
cleared to donate.
Research
shows that kidneys from living donors last
longer; half of all living-donor kidneys can
be functioning 25 years later, while about
half of cadaver kidneys tend to fail within
the first 10 years.
Most living-donor kidneys function
immediately after transplantation, and Ward
confirmed that. “When I woke up the morning
after the surgery, I had way more clarity
and felt great,” he said. “I think it’s the
first time in 20 years that I’ve had normal
kidney function.”
And once he recovers from the surgery –
about three to four weeks with no heavy
lifting – Phipps will be back to normal. His
body’s remaining kidney will continue to
function normally and compensate for the
loss of the other kidney.
“This is really a small sacrifice on my
part,” said Phipps. But Ward quickly added,
“Heroic is what it is.”
Grateful as he is, will Ward let Phipps’
humanitarian act sway him when it comes time
to evaluate this employee?
“Absolutely not,” laughed the boss. “He’s
going to get a good review anyway – it helps
that he is already a superb employee.”
Newswise
— A hospital employee in Houston started
2008 by giving his boss the best gift of
all, a gift that saved his life.