MINNESOTA, USA — For the first time, a chain of five kidney donors and recipients are together in one room.
A growing trend of kidney organ donations made chains like this possible. If you want to give your kidney to a loved one, and aren’t a match, you can still give them an organ through paired exchange.
Lu Gronseth was one of the lucky recipients in the chain. He decided to bring everyone together for a "kidney party," complete with a string of donors and recipients, and adorable organ-shaped cookies.
Gronseth needed a kidney after he was diagnosed with polycystic disease. His wife’s cousin, Jere, wanted to gift him one.
“I was reading devotions one day,” said Jere. “Everything you have is from the Lord. Your time, your talents and your body, everything you have. I called Lu to tell him I wanted to try. Turned out we were not a blood match.”
They learned about the paired organ exchange program through M Health Fairview. Essentially, a loved one can donate through paired exchange. They would give a kidney, and your loved one would get a different kidney.
Through a series of chance and letter writing, the five finally came together.
When Jere’s kidney was removed, it went to David Riley, who was on the edge of needing dialysis.
Jere’s loved one, Lu, received a kidney from Darin Brott, who was donating on behalf of his wife, Mary, who still doesn’t know who her kidney donor is.
“It’s amazing to finally put faces to my husband’s kidney,” said Mary. “We were just thankful we got to meet up with them.”
Mary was suffering from kidney failure. She said high blood pressure contributed to the health issues and received her transplant in June 2022.
“It’s such a blessing,” she said. “I just don’t take anything for granted. Just to be healthy again and live 20 plus more years. To enjoy trips and children, hopefully grandchildren some day. Just to live life again.”
Her husband, Darin, whose kidney ended up in Lu, said he didn’t realize the impact he would have on his recipient’s family.
“I just wanted to help my wife,” he said. “I realized that impact when I got my first letter from Lu. That was what woke me up. They sent us a video of their grandkids. That hit us hard too, because you’re affecting little kids.”
While Lu and Darin took months to connect via letter, Jere’s kidney recipient, David, found one another in near record time.
Jere and David had their surgeries on a Thursday. But Jere was determined not to miss his granddaughter’s basketball game the following Saturday.
“I didn’t tell the doctor I was going to a game,” he laughed.
He was sporting a shirt that day with the words “two kidneys are so last year.”
Another parent came up and introduced himself to Jere, telling him that he goes to church in the cities with a friend who received a kidney early Thursday morning.
He took a picture of Jere and sent it to his friend recovering in the hospital. Jere eventually contacted his transplant coordinator.
“She said this has never happened,” said Jere. “That is the gentleman that received your kidney. We’ve never had each other find one another so fast. I've also never had a patient crazy enough to go to a basketball game the day they leave the hospital.”
David Riley was without a willing donor. He was adopted and didn’t have any relatives and was hoping for a potential donor from a cadaver.
“I went through five possible donor kidneys,” he said.
Riley said he was called in and has gone as far as being prepped for different surgeries. For different reasons, doctors didn’t think any of them would be a healthy fit.
“I feel like I have a longer runway now of life,” said Riley. “I want to make sure I accomplish things and make it worth Jere’s time.”
M Health Fairview handled three out of the five surgeries in the chain.
"In the past, you had to go out and find a person who matches you," said Dr. Raja Kandaswamy, a professor of surgery and director of kidney transplant. "As long as they get a healthy donor volunteering to donate to them, that person can donate into what's called a kidney registry. And then the registry will find something back for the recipient that's appropriate."
Kandaswamy said this helps recipients get better matches and if a donor is so inclined, they can get a family voucher if a loved one ever needs a kidney in their lifeline.
He calls it "organ insurance."
Kandaswamy said kidneys are the main organ for paired donation because of the larger pool of donors. It happens with liver transplants, too. Lately, Kandaswamy and his team have been using what he called molecular level matching.
"In the past, we did blood type matching, we did tissue type matching," he said. "With molecular matching, the outcomes are better."
According to Kandaswamy, only 10 percent of transplants were being paired in 2010 when the center started participating in paired exchange.
Now, about 70 percent of the center's transplants are paired transplants with the rest of the patients receiving kidneys through direct donation.
"In the past, these were blood relations," said Dr. Karthik Ramanathan, an assistant professor of transplant surgery at the University of Minnesota. "This sort of gives it a whole new meaning to family. This is really done in the name of being able to help someone without really limiting your options and being able to help multiple people in ways that we weren't able to do before."
Lu said he also owes a debt of gratitude to Jere, who donated his kidney on Lu’s behalf. His illness, PKD, is hereditary.
“My mother was on dialysis, inherited polycystic kidney disease,” said Lu. “Back then, transplants weren't nearly the option that they are today. She voluntarily quit going and then at that point we knew she had two weeks left and that's how long you can live without dialysis, you know.”
Lu’s son, Troy Gronseth, has also inherited the disease.
“It was a little preview for myself,” said Troy. “To watch my dad go through this process. It means our kids will get to know their grandpa.”
“I hope Troy has a Jere in his life,” said Lu.
David and Jere no refer to themselves as "kidney brothers" and talk on the phone weekly. Mary said she has written her potential donor and hopes they respond and can be welcomed to the next "kidney party." Darin and Lu have spent hours halfway in Wisconsin.
“We spent hours in Culver’s that day,” said Lu. “They started charging us rent.”
The story on how these five came together may be a confusing one. But the decision behind it is simple enough to understand.
“We get to give someone a longer life,” said Jere. “I could never do anything better than this.”
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.