This past month, Renewal was fortunate to have been a part of 10 transplants! Though most of the transplants were performed in NYC, at the usual Renewal hospitals, Renewal also broke new ground being involved in its first transplant at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The recipients ranged in age from 27 to 70, while the donors featured our oldest donor to date, a 65-year-old altruistic man who was inspired by the tehillim emails that are sent around on the day of a transplant. The donor shared with the Renewal team that after getting email after email, about transplant after transplant, he was so moved by the selfless act of all of those donors that he decided to get tested himself.

One of our May donors is actually the third member of her family to become a donor. She was so inspired that two of her children went through the process that she decided to go for it herself!

Another one of our donors is a grandmother from Woodmere. Despite being in the middle of preparing her house for a move, she figured now would be the perfect time to donate her kidney! Her recipient, who had been on dialysis and had begun to wonder if she would ever be off of it, was overjoyed and amazed that someone would give her this second chance on life.

Though not included in the 10 for last month (this transplant occurred two days after the end of the month), Renewal was in the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a transplant involving a 2-year-old boy. Nicknamed “The Miracle Baby” by the hospital staff, Yisroel was born with severely undeveloped kidneys and needed to start dialysis soon after his birth. Due to him needing to grow in size he was unable to undergo a transplant until now.

If you would like to find out more information, or to schedule a Renewal awareness event in your community, please contact [email protected].

By Rabbi Josh Sturm