Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month
05/22/2024PUTTING LIFE ON HOLD
“Every day you wake up and you’re like, ‘Is today going to be the day?’”
Sejal Patel waited a year for a kidney and pancreas. Ten years later, her donated kidney began to fail, and she was placed on the waiting list for a second time.
Having gone through the transplant process twice, Sejal has put her life on hold for nearly four years of her life.
Read more on Sejal’s story and how a new tool gets the right kidney to the right patient at the right time: How Offer Filters will help more kidney patients, faster.
Celebrating AAPI Month
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Throughout May we recognize those waiting for a lifesaving transplant, selfless donors who have given the gift of life and the contributions to the world of donation within, and from, this community.
SEMINAL LEADERSHIP
Dr. Harini Chakerra is a transplant nephrologist and the medical director of the Pancreas Transplant Program at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. Her areas of expertise include determination of eligibility for kidney and pancreas transplant, providing complex coordination and management for patients after kidney and pancreas transplant and promoting a patient’s understanding of their disease and empowering them to become partners in managing their health. She was responsible for transforming the internal medicine resident rotation in nephrology.
Additionally, she was instrumental in the founding of two fellowships (General Nephrology and Transplant Nephrology) and was the founding leader for the renal block, Mayo Medical School in Arizona. She provides mentorship to several residents and fellows.
Dr. Chakerra has been a seminal leader in elucidating the mechanisms and consequences of metabolic disease post-transplant.
The Numbers
Currently, there are more than 10,000 people within the AAPI community on the national transplant waiting list, 161 that reside in Arizona*. In 2023, 487 people from this community gave the gift of life through both deceased and living donation* in the U.S.
Transplants can be successful regardless of the ethnicity of the donor and recipient. However, the chance of longer-term success may be greater if the donor and recipient are closely matched in terms of their shared genetic background for most organs.
*Data as of May 17, 2024.
A Generous Hero
A generous and friendly person, David Kong valued his family and his faith. The generosity that permeated every element of his life also resulted in him registering as an organ and tissue donor. He even talked to his older children about donation when they turned 16 and got their driver’s licenses.
In November 2021, David tragically passed from a ruptured brain aneurysm. He went on to save and heal lives through the donation of his kidneys, corneas, heart valves and skin tissue.
“When he was able to donate, my heart was breaking at losing him, but I was glad to help prevent another family from the heartbreak we’re experiencing,” says Kendra Kong, David’s wife.
“I always wanted to donate, but it was an obscure thing to me before. However, going through the process, and seeing how much they did for us to honor David at his death, I encourage others to give the gift of life,” she says.
You Can Help
Together, we can save and improve the quality of life in diverse communities. Register as an organ and tissue donor today at www.DonateLifeAZ.org.