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Kidney Transplant Bonds Two Families

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Jul 14, 2009 8:58 pm US/Eastern

Kidney Transplant Bonds Two Families

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― At one time they were perfect strangers, but now they've made history together.

The donors and recipients in the nation's first paired organ donation involving a pediatric patient met for the first time Tuesday.

The surgery happened July 8.

Bennett, 5, was born with a kidney disease and needed a transplant. His dad wasn't a match, but a woman named Ruby was.

"All of my sisters, we all said, 'If we can donate, we will donate.' And I was the only one who was able to do it. So we did it," said Ruby Aguilar of Rosenberg, TX, as she wiped a happy tear from her cheek.

It turned out that Ruby's sister, Jenny, needed a kidney. She had the same disease as Bennett.

So Dean, Bennett's dad, gave his kidney to Jenny.

"It's great to put a name with a face, and it's kind of surreal to think about your organ working and helping somebody else's life, but it's a great feeling," says donor Dean Huibregtse of South Fayette.

"To give to a complete stranger is amazing, it really is," says recipient Jenny Neely of Canonsburg.

Usually, donors are anonymous. But in this case, they all wanted to meet.

"We were told it depended on them, if they wanted to meet us, and Ruby and I talked, and we're like, yes, definitely, we definitely want to meet them," explains Neely.

A paired donation may lead to a transplant where one may not have been possible.

"It's, I think, a source of potential hope for patients who are waiting for a kidney in this case, who might have a potential donor, but who's not blood type compatible," says Dr. Ron Shapiro, a UPMC transplant surgeon and leader in paired exchange efforts.

This case was more complicated because Bennett already had a transplant and circulating antibodies made finding a match hard.

His older sibling died of the same disease. So getting a kidney, even in a round about way, is a great relief to his parents.

"I jumped at the chance, because any way to help my son is really something I wanted to do," says Dean Huibregtse.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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