The Incredible Thing This Father Did For His Daughter Saved Her Life
Many people in the world live each day hoping that someone will help them. The amount of illnesses and diseases affecting people can seem overwhelming at times, and for many whether they live or die depends on whether or not they can get an organ transplant.
Roughly twenty-one people die each day while they wait for an organ transplant, and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services claims that another hopeful recipient joins the national waiting list for a transplant every ten minutes.
Why are so many people not receiving an organ transplant? The demand is simply greater than the current supply. There are not enough organ donors to help those whose lives hang in the balance.
Paul Rybkwin and Karen Rodas have been down this road before. In 2012, their baby boy died only 36 hours after his birth due to a rare genetic disorder that required an organ transplant for his survival. Unfortunately, he did not receive one and he passed away.
With their most recent child, they didn’t have to look too far to get her a kidney transplant and save her life. Keep reading to learn more about this incredible story.
After losing their son, the couple got pregnant again, and due to the very high likelihood of their child having the same genetic disorder as their son that died the doctor suggested termination of the pregnancy at 20 weeks. The couple refused to listen, and their daughter Madeline was born prematurely on November 7, 2013, which was at 33 weeks gestation.
Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is an extremely rare disease, but both Madeline and the baby brother she never knew were born with it. It causes the kidneys to develop large cysts filled with water which subsequently stop the kidneys from functioning how they’re supposed to. Apparently, both Paul and Karen carry the recessive gene that causes the disorder.
Not only did Madeline require a ventilator to help her lungs fully develop, but she also needed a kidney transplant. After testing both parents, it was discovered that Paul was Madeline’s perfect match. “It was definitely one of the happiest moments of my life,” Paul said. “There are so many people out there that are suffering while they wait for a transplant.”
The couple was forced to wait until Madeline was older to go through the processing of transplanting Paul’s kidney to her. That meant that they had to watch Madeline get worse and worse each day. At one point, her kidneys weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces each. That’s more than three times the size of a normal adult’s kidney.
On top of the kidney size, Madeline was throwing up every night and had no energy. Despite all of that, her parents claim she was always a happy child.
The surgery finally happened, and it was a huge success. Her parents claim that there’s been a night and day difference in her quality of light. “She’s a totally different child now. It’s like a light went on that day,” says Karen. “Now she wants to move, she’s got energy, and she even fights it when you put her down for a nap. She’s laughing all the time.”
Although Madeline will take immunosuppressants the rest of her life and the doctors say the kidney will have an expiry date of 10-20 years, her parents wouldn’t have done it any other way.
Her liver is showing signs of cirrhosis and eventually she will need a liver transplant, but her dad says he’s expecting to do the same thing and give her part of his liver. “I would give her all my organs if it helped,” explains Paul.
The couple now lives happily with Karen’s son from a previous marriage and a brand new baby girl that they’ve named Penelope. She was born without ARPKD in 2015.
Although Madeline is still very young, she basically understands the sacrifice her father made for her and no doubt she’ll never stop being grateful.