down. They understood that Terri could be
confined to a lifetime of dialysis treatments and that such a ‘lifetime’ lasts, on
average, five to 10 years – unless a kidney
donor is found. Even then, the waiting
time for kidneys from a deceased individual is five to seven years, and 90% of potential recipients do not live that long. Still,
they held out hope that a family member
would qualify as a kidney donor for Terri.
This proved not to be the case.
Given that Terri needed to remain on
the home dialysis unit for eight hours at a
time, she would be unable to attend the
programme for developmentally disabled
young adults at DANI. A call to Kathy was
in order, since she was running the DANI
programme. But that phone call garnered
more than sympathetic acknowledgment.
Within moments of hearing of Terri’s predicament, Kathy, who has Type O blood
and is a universal donor, offered to be
tested as a possible kidney match.
“I just kept thinking that Terri could just
as easily have been my child. I believe that
G-d wanted me to do this,” Kathy explained.
Once the decision was made and gratefully accepted by the Quints, Kathy, who
works as an accountant for Aish HaTorah
International, underwent a series of tests
– blood work, EKG, MRS, as well as interviews with doctors, psychologists, and so-
cial workers – to determine her suitability
as a donor.
In June 2010, accompanied by twins
Michael and Sarah, Kathy settled i