When a childhood classmate and life-long friend needed a new kidney, Middle Village resident Maureen Wirth didn’t hesitate to offer up one of hers.
Wirth and Amy Nash met when they were about 10 and 11 while growing up in Alden, New York. From that time on, the two remained friends and kept in touch. Wirth has now lived in Queens for about 18 years and Nash still lives in western New York.
About 20 years ago, Nash had her first kidney transplant. At that time, the two were still living in the same area so Wirth would go to visit Nash in the hospital.
Although that kidney was supposed to last 10 years, Nash took care of herself and was able to make it last longer. However, about five years ago, it also started to fail and she was put on the transplant list in Buffalo, New York.
Nash even spent a year at the top of the list, but had no luck. Several people who were interested in donating a kidney to her were found to be inappropriate matches.
In June of 2008, Wirth sent Nash an e-mail saying that she would be happy to donate a kidney and asking what she needed to do.
Since Wirth was now living in Queens, she sent blood to the hospital through FedEx. A week later she received a call saying it was a match.
“I just had a feeling when I mailed the blood in that it was going to match,” Wirth said. She added that the two friends had been the same in many ways, whether it was the activities they participated in, jobs they held or friends they had.
Wirth said that one of the things that struck her about Nash’s situation was that she did “nothing to bring this on” and was a healthy person.
“It could have been me,” Wirth said.
By October of last year, all testing had been completely to ensure that Wirth was a perfect match. The two underwent the transplant surgery on December 1 at a hospital in Buffalo.
After just three days, Wirth was out of the hospital. She said that within a couple of months she was feeling just like she did prior to donating her kidney.
One message that Wirth, 46, wants to impart on others is that you can remain active after donating. In fact, she will be participating in the Healthy Kidney 10 kilometer run on May 16.
“The Healthy Kidney 10K in New York City’s Central park was inaugurated in 2005 as an awareness tribute event to Sheikh Zayed of the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” explains the web site of the National Kidney Foundation. “The former UAE president Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan benefited from U.S. Expertise, knowledge and research when he received a kidney transplant in 2000.”
Wirth has run in the event before and has been a volunteer for the last couple of years. She said that the cause was always important to her because of what Nash had gone through.
As the first time running the 10K after donating her kidney, Wirth said this run does mean more to her. She also said that some of her friends will also be participating in support of her and Nash.
For more information on the Healthy Kidney 10K, visit the National Kidney Foundation web site at www.kidney.org.
