Photo courtesy of Richard Lewis
Richard Lewis, organ recipient
Richard Lewis, an organ recipient, received donor kidneys in 2005 and 2017.
National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month is here and shines a light on some concerning societal issues.
Starting in 1996 as National Minority Donor Awareness Week, National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month takes place during August every year and promotes organ, eye and tissue donation to improve and save lives in diverse communities. It was expanded from just the first week of August to a full month in 2020.
There is currently an urgent need for tissue and organs in Wisconsin. According to Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin, about one-third of the roughly 1,500 people that are actively waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant are from diverse and multicultural communities. Not only do Blacks and African Americans make up the largest minority group on Wisconsin’s transplant waiting lists, but most of them also live in Milwaukee County and the neighboring southeastern counties.
Waiting Lists
“African Americans suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes at higher rates and that can impact kidney function and cause kidney failure,” said Versiti vice president Colleen McCarthy when asked about the reasoning behind Black and African Americans being so prevalent on waiting lists. “We know, in Milwaukee County, that only 25% of African Americans have signed up to be organ donors, but they are disproportionately represented on that national transplant waiting list.”
Versiti’s Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) is a federally designated and non-profit U.S. organization that is responsible for retrieving organs and tissues for life-saving transplants. An OPO evaluates potential donors, provides family support via guiding grieving families through the donation process and manages organ allocation and recovery.
According to Wisconsin Department of Health Services, more than 3,600 Wisconsin residents have removed themselves from the organ donor registry in the last year. Removals have doubled and tripled from the same time the previous year. Personal misgivings about medical care are often brought up as the biggest contributor to this.
Beneficial and Necessary
A story that proves how beneficial and necessary organ donation is focuses on Richard Lewis and Corliss Shaw. Lewis, 61, began his kidney disease journey in 1987 after a life insurance exam revealed protein in his urine. A nephrologist predicted that Lewis would need a kidney in about a decade, which was proven true when Lewis became sick on Christmas Eve in 1994. In February 2005, Lewis’ sister donated her kidney for his first transplant. However, it only lasted until 2014 when Lewis became sick again.
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Photo courtesy Corliss Shaw
Corliss Shaw
Corliss Shaw donated her son's organs. Richard Lewis received Corbin's kidneys.
In July 2017, Shaw, 54, donated the organs of her son Corbin to Lewis. This resulted in the second kidney transplant. Before that, Lewis received a phone call from his friend that told him about Shaw wanting to donate his organs. Lewis was hesitant to call someone whose son had yet to pass away, so he asked Shaw to call him instead.
“I never understood why God kept him here,” said Shaw when detailing her conversation with Lewis when telling him about the situation. “And now I know he was keeping him here for you.”
There was a connection between Lewis and Shaw before this interaction even occurred. After Lewis showed his wife Laura a Facebook photo of Shaw, she noted that Shaw’s daughter Karina was in her class that she taught. Additionally, Lewis’ father sold Shaw a car in 1992.
During the operation and after Corbin’s passing, surgeons removed Corbin’s kidneys and discovered that they were very small. Lewis was told that there was no way that a small kidney would fit his 250-pound body. However, Shaw refused to listen and insisted on Lewis getting it.
After the kidney was transplanted into Lewis and his blood supply was connected to it, it swelled up to the size of a regular kidney. The surgeon stated that he had never seen such a thing in 30 years of practice.
Urban Legends
Photo courtesy of Richard Lewis
Richard Lewis and Corliss Shaw
Richard Lewis (left) and Corliss Shaw (right).
“You’re just giving up complete control and they’re gonna kill you to get your organ and give it to a white person,” said Lewis when detailing what some members of the Black community have told him and trying to dispel the preferential treatment myth that exists when it comes to organ donation.
Another myth is the street death myth, which is the belief that people who die on the street have their organs taken. Shaw, who was a 911 operator, stated that someone cannot be an organ donor if they die on the street. Bodies are not immediately moved. There is an investigation period before the coroner retrieves the body.
People can register to be a donor at the Wisconsin Donor Registry.
