Rare living donors give the gift of life

For patients in need of kidney transplants, living donors can make the difference between life and death, but more are needed. Julie Sindell is a living donor. After reading about Nicholas Marone in

News 12 Staff

Sep 16, 2007, 11:37 PM

Updated 6,209 days ago

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For patients in need of kidney transplants, living donors can make the difference between life and death, but more are needed.
Julie Sindell is a living donor. After reading about Nicholas Marone in the newspaper, she volunteered to be tested and eventually donated a kidney to him.
"He was 19 and he deserves a chance at life. He deserves a chance to get married, to have children and to have a home," Sindell said.
Parents of 3-year-old Kiley Hubbard have the same hopes for their daughter. Hubbard is on dialysis and has needed a kidney transplant since birth. They hope someone like Sindell will come forward to help them. However, people can? t become living donors until they are 18 years old.
Each year, about 6,000 Americans die while waiting for an organ transplant.