There is one flood out there in the world right now that should not be contained. The Flood sister flow, that is. I feel so fortunate to have happened upon one of these special sisters on Facebook. She wrote me there telling me that she and her sisters were featured on Daryn Kagan's site (which by the way is SPECTACULAR. Check it out for sure. Daryn interviewed me when Heart is Hot had just launched back in December 07). So, I immediately became her friend on Facebook Come to find out, she has THIS story: (Have a seat for this one, folks. Its a doozie!) Talk about paying love forward...WOW!
Jennifer was sitting at her desk one day thinking that she had not spoken to her father recently. He had been diagnosed with chronic renal failure just a couple months prior. The phone of course rang right after this and it was her sister telling Jennifer that their Dad was not well at all and was on a waiting list in New York for a kidney. Unfortunately, none of the family members were a match for him.
Something awoke inside Jennifer in that moment and she knew she needed to do something to help her father since the waiting list was 2-5 years and her father only had months to live. Since she had worked as a nurse 5 years prior to changing careers, she knew that neither dialysis nor waiting for a kidney from the list were viable options for him at that point. Basically, she could not live with the fact of knowing that she did NOT try to save his life when she had worked in the profession since that is what nurses do. They respond to medical situations and act upon them in the hope of saving a life. So, that is exactly what Jennifer and her sisters did.
And like any other person who needs something out there in the world, she put an ad out on Craigslist for a donor. Yes, CRAIGSLIST! The same place I have bought and sold televisions and home furnishings in the past. Told you it was a good story. :)
Many people contacted the girls about donation. Some were scams, others weren't genuine donors or had medical issues of sorts. But there was one woman, who had never used Craigslist before I might add, who felt called to check it out back in May 2008....all the way out in California. (The Floods were in NY). She just wanted to really give back (or I would say forward) after experiencing a death in her life.
And before anyone could talk her out of it, a woman named Dawn Verdick flew to NY and started the testing process. Turns out she was a perfect match and she scheduled the surgery for December 2008 to give her kidney to a total stranger. WOW-WEE!
The surgery was a complete success and both Dawn and Jennifer's father, Dan, are doing great! Dawn insists she is not a hero or extraordinary. She is simply someone who was hungry to make a difference in the world.
So much good has come from the entire experience for everyone. Dan Flood is healthy, Dawn made a difference (uh, a big one!) and the Flood Sisters have started their own organization to help other families find desperately needed organs for their loved one.
I was thinking of inserting a statement here about not giving up. But I think the story speaks for itself.... in every way, shape and form.
Craigslist?? Proof that anything is possible with desire, faith and action.
