In this season of giving, perhaps consider saving a life. Many people associate organ donation with an indication on a driver’s license, but becoming a living donor is an option, too. It’s one that strengthened a friendship and saved a Mid-south man’s life.
Scott Moore met his buddy Dustin Lehmann on the golf range.
“One cold morning, about like it is outside now, I had noticed this guy out practicing,” recalls Lehmann.
He says three straight days of the same, and he knew he’d found a friend. The two quickly took up the game together, heading on golf outings despite the weather outside.
“My wife likes to say that she’s my wife but Dustin’s my soul mate,” jokes Moore.
The pair now call each other ‘kidney bros.’ It was on the same course they frequented together, that Moore realized something was seriously wrong with his health.
“Started coughing really badly and coughed up blood,” Moore remembers.
The ordeal landed him in the hospital, where he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that was affecting his kidneys, IgA nephropathy. Lehmann, an army veteran with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, had been a medic in the airborne and army rangers, and immediately offered his friend an incredible gift, his kidney.
“I was like well, looks like you might need a kidney one day, and I’ve got an extra. So, you can have it,” remembers Lehmann.
Moore initially blew his buddy off, hoping the need would never come, but last spring, while on dialysis, he learned a transplant was his only option.
“A lot of folks are just waiting and it’s just so important for people to consider being a living donor,” implores Moore.
The best news came, when Lehmann learned the pair shared the same blood type and the two were a match. He says the only slight hesitation he felt was right after the laparoscopic procedure and the initial pain, but only with a sense of humor.
“I wasn’t having second thoughts but just thinking, how many feet of gimme putts is he going to have to give me when we play golf,” Lehmann said with a laugh.
By the way, Moore says he’ll never make Lehmann putt again! A little over a month after the surgeries, both players were back up to par and headed back to the green.
“My quality of life now from before surgery is exactly the same,” says Lehmann. “I’ve got this fantastic kidney and it’s working great and I feel just amazing,” explains Moore.
He’s also back to playing trumpet in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.
If you’re interested in becoming a living donor, you don’t have to know a patient in need. Contact a Methodist University Hospital Coordinator at 901-516-9183.
