Courtesy of Children’s Organ Transplant Association
Today the CBS news published an interesting story about using the Facebook for solving health problems including finding kidney’s donors.
Damon Brown, 38, found a kidney on Facebook after telling his story on a page the Seattle dad created under the name, “Damon Kidney.” His friends and family forwarded the link to everyone they knew and on Jan. 3 a woman his wife has known for years, but not someone they consider a close family friend, will be giving him a kidney.
“She said it wasn’t really for me,” Brown said. “It was for my kids, because they deserve to have a dad around.”
Brown’s story is not unique, said April Paschke, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit organization United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) that manages the nation’s organ transplant system for the federal government.
“We see more and more people matched up by social media,” she said. “It’s an extension of the way we communicate. Before we found the Internet, people found other ways: through a church bulletin, word of mouth or an advertisement even.”
This past year, a Michigan man also found a kidney donor on Facebook, and a Florida woman found one through Craigslist.
Damon Brown admits he was a bit embarrassed to publicly ask for help since he had kept his illness pretty quiet except for telling close friends and family.
