Heartwarming: Local Man Donates Kidney to Stranger in Exchange for Stranger’s Equally Functioning Kidney

It really doesn’t get more inspiring than this story, brought to us from Boston, MA where a local citizen committed an admirably selfless act. Earlier this week Samuel Hillman, aged 37, reportedly donated his kidney to a complete stranger—Douglas White, 34—in exchange for White’s equally healthy kidney.

This feel-good tale of heroic altruism began last fall, when the two men met through a database of healthy people. When they went into their local clinic for a blood test, they were delighted to find that they were a perfect match! Hillman reportedly moved to begin the process right away.

When asked how he felt about the fact that his kidney was going to be implanted into a complete stranger, Hillman shrugged and said, “It really was a simple decision when it came down to it. I don’t need both of mine so I might as well give him one and take one of his.”

According to Hillman’s friend and coworker, Jason Tommins, 41, Hillman had always been regarded as successful by his peers but, up until recently, still felt as if he lacked purpose. Donating his kidney to a stranger, in exchange for the stranger’s kidney that filtered blood just as effectively and just so happened to be a match, helped him find that sense of purpose. “It was kind of a midlife crisis, I guess,” reports Tommins, “Sam’s a nice guy, but I think he was starting to feel like he wasn’t making enough of a difference in the world. That’s different now.”

The surgery reportedly took place this past Tuesday at Massachusetts General Hospital, where both Hillman and White were put under general anesthetic. A team of expert surgeons then made a large incision into White’s lower abdomen and carefully extracted his fully functional kidney, which was then briefly preserved in a pulsatile perfusion device as they surgically removed Hillman’s equally functional kidney in the same manner. The surgical team then implanted Hillman’s kidney in to White’s abdomen and, simultaneously, White’s kidney into Hillman’s abdomen, attaching the new kidneys to the external iliac artery and vein of each of their respective recipients and closing the incisions with surgical staples. Fortunately, there were no complications.

As they are both currently being monitored in the hospital’s recovery wing, the two men’s families finally got the chance to meet.

“We’ll be forever connected to the Whites,” said Samuel’s sister, Lexie Hillman, 29. “The kind of bond created through organ donation is kind of bond doesn’t easily fade.”

During his recovery, we checked in with White, whose kidneys contained fully functioning nephrons that had always capably removed toxins from his body and continued to do as such. “This kind of altruism is hard to come by. I will forever think of Samuel as his kidney lives within me, a gratitude I can only hope is made up for by the fact that my kidney lives in him as well.”

– L K-P ’18