Husband and Wife’s New Year’s Resolutions: Become Advocates for Organ Donation, Meet the Donor Family and Inspire Love and Peace Amongst Others
Last month, with the holiday season just around the corner, Jennifer Kliesing was preparing to give her husband the ultimate gift: one of her kidneys. In June, her husband Jeremiah had suffered two heart attacks and was subsequently implanted with the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart at Texas Heart Institute (THI) at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston. When Jeremiah’s kidney function had not returned after several months, Jennifer had been tested and approved as a match for her husband. However, on Nov. 11, a matching donor heart and kidney became available, and Jeremiah received the dual transplant he had been waiting for.
“I know every wife says she loves her husband, but Jeremiah and I have always had something extra,” Jennifer wrote in an email to SynCardia after her husband received the Total Artificial Heart. “I was terrified several times that I would go through the rest of my life without him, and SynCardia let him live… he’s thrilled to be here” … read more