Transplantation News and Events

SHOW: Today (7:00 AM ET) - NBC
January 3, 2003 Friday

HEADLINE: Patty, Tony and Angela Rushford, David Harper and Dr. Hans Sollinger discuss the operation to give Angela one of David's kidneys

ANCHORS: MATT LAUER

BODY:

MATT LAUER, co-host:

Before we get to that, the amazing story of a little girl in need of a kidney transplant and the generosity of a total stranger. Right now Angela Rushford and David Harper are in surgery. They didn't know each other until Angela's mom, in a desperate attempt to find a kidney for her five-year-old girl, took out this add in a local newspaper looking for a kidney donor. Her prayers were answered when David responded to the ad. Before they went into the operating room, little Angela, her parents Patty and Tony Rushford, David, the donor, Harper, and Dr. Hans Sollinger, were good enough to talk to us. And I started by asking David if his reading that newspaper was a fluke.

Mr. DAVID HARPER (Answered Classified Ad To Donate A Kidney): Yes, that's correct. I'd never seen this newspaper before the whole time we lived in Mount Morris. And I just happened to see it and pick it up in the gas station on my way out.

LAUER: So--so when you saw the ad that said that this young girl, this five-year-old girl, had a kidney disorder and she needed someone to donate a kidney, you didn't know her, you didn't know her family. What went through your mind? Mr. HARPER: Well, the ad asked for an O-positive donor, which I'm an O-positive. And it was just kind of, 'Well, this is something to think about.' And I mentioned it to my wife and told her I might call. And I just kind of thought it over the rest of the day and that evening my wife asked me if I was going to call and I said, 'Yeah, I think I am.' So I ended up calling.

LAUER: You--you got tested for compatibility and it turned out you were a pretty good match. Was that surprising to you?

Mr. HARPER: It was. They say that my matching three out of six antigens is just like my being Angela's father. They said it's like one in a million chance. It's pretty rare.

LAUER: So, without getting too dramatic, this almost seemed as if it was destined to happen between you and Angela?

Mr. HARPER: Absolutely.

LAUER: Patty, let me ask you, when you go to a newspaper to put an ad in there saying, 'My daughter needs a kidney,' it's obviously a bit of a last resort. What kind of response did you expect?

Ms. PATTY RUSHFORD (Placed Classified Ad To Find Kidney Donor For Her Daughter): I really didn't expect any type of response. I never expected anyone to even call. I just thought I had nothing to lose, you know, and I had no other--I didn't have a donor, because her grandmother was going to be the donor, but she ended up not being able to. So, I didn't expect any type of response.

LAUER: Tony...

Ms. RUSHFORD: I'm glad I got this one.

LAUER: I can imagine.

Tony, Dave Harper doesn't know you, he doesn't know your wife, he doesn't know your daughter, and next thing you know, you find out that he's willing to donate one of his kidneys to your little girl. How does that make you feel?

Mr. TONY RUSHFORD: Yeah, you know, it's just unbelievable. It's like a--it's like a miracle. You know, he's--he's my hero.

LAUER: Tell me a little bit about Angela, and she's listening so I guess you have to be careful, but tell me about her, and--and tell me what her life has been like since she received her diagnosis.

Mr. RUSHFORD: The last year and three months it's been, you know, pretty rough. You know, she's got--takes a lot of medicines and she has to get shots and a lot of stuff. It's not fun for a little girl her age and, you know, some days she can, you know, barely walk and move around because, you know, her kidney function is so low. And then other days, she seems like she's fine and seems like she's, you know, she's my normal little girl. It's--it's been a nightmare.

LAUER: Have--have you explained to her what's going to happen today?

Mr. RUSHFORD: Yeah. She knows. She--she--she knows a lot more than even she lets on to know. She knows.

LAUER: Dr. Sollinger, let me go to you. First of all, how unusual is it for a total stranger to be such a good match, in terms of an organ donation?

Dr. HANS SOLLINGER (Angela's Surgeon): It's very unusual and it's a lot of great luck for--for Angela and her family that Mr. Harper not only came forward, but in addition, he's a very good match.

LAUER: Fifty thousand people right now waiting on a list for some sort of organ donation. And I--I guess we should talk a little bit about what would happen to that list if there were more people like Dave Harper.

Dr. SOLLINGER: You know, it's--it's only--it's 50,000 for--for a kidney transplant alone. And we know over the eight--next eight years this number will double to 100,000. So if--if just one out of, let's say, 10,000 people in the United States would do what Mr. Harper is doing today, we could basically erase the waiting list tomorrow.

LAUER: Now--now, obviously, Mr. Harper is an adult and Angela's a--a five-year-old girl, what are the complications, what are the risks in transplanting an adult kidney into a little girl?

Dr. SOLLINGER: It's technically a little bit more difficult than dealing with adult to adult situation, but in general it works out very well and the success rate--the technical success rate for this type of operation is very, very high.

LAUER: Tell me about the recovery process, not only for Angela, but for Dave Harper as well.

Dr. SOLLINGER: I--I hope that Mr. Harper is going home on Monday or Tuesday. He will stay off work for a few weeks, but in about a month he should be back to his life as--as normal. As far as Angela is concerned, she will stay for about a week with us. And she has to take medication to suppress the rejection response for the rest of her life. So this is a little bit different than what Mr. Harper is expecting.

LAUER: Dave, are you nervous at all? I mean, this is--this is not like--I mean, this is major surgery. Are you nervous? And how does your family feel about this?

Mr. HARPER: My family is very supportive. I think I'm past the nervous part now. We're down to the wire, so this is nothing compared to surgery I've had in the past.

LAUER: Angela, I know you're looking at your mom there and I hope you can hear me. What--do you know this man Dave behind you?

Miss ANGELA RUSHFORD (Five-year-old Receiving Kidney Transplant): Yeah.

LAUER: Yeah? Tell--tell me, why--why is here there today? Do you know why?

Miss RUSHFORD: Hmm. I don't know.

LAUER: Is he going to--is going to give you a kidney? I have a feeling Angela's having a little trouble with her ear piece there. Well, we want to first of all say that we wish all you the best of luck. And--and we're going to check in with you after surgery in the next couple of days to make sure you're all safely on the road to recovery. Angela, Patty, Tony, David Harper, and--and, of course, Dr. Sollinger, thank you all for joining us this morning and we wish you the best of luck.

Angela, I hope you feel better soon, OK?

Mr. RUSHFORD: Thank you very much.

Mr. HARPER: Thank you.

Dr. SOLLINGER: Thank you.

Mr. HARPER: Thank you, Matt.

Ms. RUSHFORD: Thank you.

Miss RUSHFORD: Thank you.

LAUER: All right. She's a cute little girl. Today's surgery is scheduled to last for several hours. Of course, we will let you know how everyone's doing and keep you updated on their progress both on "Weekend Today" and Monday right here on TODAY.

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