Organ transplant allows for a new chance at life

ALBANY — During the Thanksgiving holiday season in 2005, one life ending early meant another could be extended.

“It is emotional, still is,” Donna Wehking said upon meeting Debbie McDonald last month.

McDonald, an advocate for the blind and amputees in the Albany area, has received two organ donations in her life — a kidney transplant on July 25, 2001, and a pancreas transplant on Nov. 25, 2005.

The pancreas came from Wehking’s daughter, Misty Yorek Kinnear, who had died due to injuries sustained in a car accident a few days earlier while traveling to see family for the holiday.

“Misty was the director at a day care and had a 7-year-old stepson, Jordan Kinnear, and a 9-month-old baby, Zaden,” Wehking said. “Her husband was Eric Kinnear of Alvin, Texas.”

As she was traveling to her family home the day of the accident, Misty Kinnear had the children in the car when the wreck occurred 45 minutes from her destination. It happened the Monday before Thanksgiving, and she died on the holiday.

Since then Wehking has gained a new appreciation for what it means to check the organ donation box. She is now an advocate for organ donation.

“That was a tough day,” Wehking said.

Both children survived the accident, but it took time to recover from their injuries. The older child suffered a brain injury that prevents him from walking well. The baby got fragments in his head, but is now doing well and has a relationship with Wehking.

“There is still an open door,” she said.

Eight years later, Wehking’s son, Brad Ricks, was in an accident that left him paralyzed. Her son-in-law has since remarried.

Wehking knew early on she wanted to meet the recipients the her daughter’s organs. Direct communication is not allowed in order to diminish the level of emotional trauma on both sides, so LifeLink of Georgia acted as the go-between.

“Misty gave five different organs, and Debbie is the only one I have been able to get in touch with,” Wehking said. “At one point, it was six months before they passed my letter on to her.

“We had never met, never spoken.”

A part of Kinnear was still living in McDonald, so Wehking wanted to find a way to make a meeting work. Eventually they connected.

“A lot of years passed; it was a real lengthy process,” she said. “I wanted to from the beginning. I also wanted to know who reported the accident. I never knew that.”

Parts of her late daughter are spread throughout the country, with one organ going to California. In her exchanges with McDonald, Wehking learned a bit about her circumstances and asked if the transplant had made a difference.

“From what I understand, it did,” Wehking said. “It is quite a shocking situation. It is awesome. I am glad it made a difference in her life. It is good to know a part of her (my daughter) lives in somebody else.

“God gets the glory in it. He knew where to put each organ and who each recipient needed to be.”

Not only does Wehking want to keep a connection with McDonald, she said she hopes she will have a relationship with her daughter’s extended family.

Kinnear was an organ donor, her mother said, because of her willingness to give and let someone else have a second chance.

“She was very bubbly,” Wehking said. “She would try to keep the peace and keep things running. She loved children. She enjoyed coffee and Mexican food. She believed in working hard and responsibility.

“It would be my prayer that these people who received from her, that they enjoy in the Lord and encourage us as she did.”

After seeing some good coming from her loss, Wehking is encouraging others to check the organ donor box.

“I would encourage them to give someone else a second chance by receiving a new organ and have the opportunity to have a better life,” Wehking said. “As a parent, we want to know a part of our child is continuing on.”

It took Wehking seven years, shortly before her son’s accident, to get to a point of moving on. It is her daughter’s cheerful demeanor, and service to others, that she misses the most.

“After her life ended, she was still giving,” Wehking said.

Wehking said she is continually pursuing contact with the other recipients to unite with them. She said she may even write a book about her experience some day.

McDonald was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 10. She took insulin shots for 32 years until receiving Kinnear’s pancreas.

“After the pancreas transplant, I was taken off insulin shots,” she said.

McDonald is a below-the-knee amputee and is visually impaired due to diabetes. There are several groups she is involved with in the Albany area, including Limb Support Group, Low Vision Support Group, Independent Living Council of Georgia, National Federation of the Blind and Mended Hearts.

At the time of her kidney transplant, she had been on dialysis for several years. She was suffering from kidney failure due to diabetes, and she said she felt drugged-out often.

Both transplants were done at Piedmont Hospital.

“The doctors were worried about the diabetes damaging my kidney,” McDonald said. “I felt so good about not having to take insulin. I am able to spend time with family. It has improved my life so much.”

McDonald got word that Wehking wanted to connect, and they began writing letters. The connection grew from there.

She said she feels as if she has won the lottery. She has gone from low in energy and spirit due to difficulty in keeping her diabetes under control to undergoing a significant turnaround.

“A lot of people die waiting for an organ transplant,” McDonald said. “I feel blessed, and that is why I have helped other people. I just want to encourage others to have faith. (My quality of life) has improved 100 percent.

“It’s a struggle. I wouldn’t be able to do the things I do without these transplants.”

McDonald said she was excited to hear from Wehking, and establishing that relationship felt natural. To this day, she does not know anything about her kidney donor.

“I was really excited it,” McDonald said. “I wanted to let her know her daughter’s donation is not wasted. It didn’t feel awkward to me. I felt I could help her get through the loss of her daughter.”

McDonald also urged people to choose organ donation.

“Please consider being an organ and tissue donor,” she said. “You don’t know how many lives you will save.”

Statistics from LifeLink Foundation show that one donor can save eight lives through organ donation and improve more than 75 through tissue donation.

Staff Photo: Jennifer Parks