WMAQ) Chris Doing, right, says he was just "glad to help" when
he donated a kidney to Nathan
Two-year-old Nathan Saavedra is celebrating
Christmas with a new, healthy kidney — thanks to the generosity of
a stranger.
The Carpentersville, Ill., toddler suffers from "Prune Belly
Syndrome," a rare birth defect that causes the skin of the belly
area to wrinkle like a prune, leading to urinary tract
problems.
Without a new kidney, Nathan would have faced continued
dialysis, the risk of infections and an uncertain future.
Enter Chris Doing, a 38-year-old information technology security
analyst, who first read about Nathan in the Elgin Courier-News in
April. He contacted Children's Memorial Hospital, and blood tests
determined he was a donor match.
On Oct. 25, doctors at one hospital removed Doing's left kidney,
which was taken to another hospital and transplanted into little
Nathan. Because Nathan's abdomen was distended, there was just
enough room for an adult kidney. Both operations went without a
hitch, and for the first time in his short life, Nathan had normal
kidney function.
Doing visited Nathan and his mother, Tina Saavedra, in the
hospital a week after surgery. It was the first time that Doing met
the boy.
"I was really surprised at just how happy and smiling he was,"
Doing told msnbc.com.
"It was a very emotional meeting for his mom and I," Doing said.
"I can't put it into words. Obviously, she feels a debt that she
can't fathom repaying and that makes me uncomfortable, because I
don’t feel like they owe me. I was just glad to help."
“It was heartbreaking to meet him. I wanted to cry,” Tina
Saavedra, told the Courier-News. “He told me after seeing Nathan’s
face he couldn’t say no.”
She said Nathan still faces future abdominal surgery and will
always take anti-rejection medications, but his prognosis is
excellent.
She calls Doing a hero. "I will always feel so happy to have met
him and for him to have saved my son," she told NBC Chicago.
Doing, who took a week's vacation to recover from surgery,
doesn't regard his gesture as an act of heroism.
"The thing I’ve learned through the whole process is how easy it
is to make an impact on other people. People have reached out to me
and told me it inspired them do do something for others," Doing
said.
"It was honestly one of the most rewarding vacations I’ve ever
taken."