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Kidney donation is truly an amazing and incredible act and is the most generous gift anyone could give to our family.
Zach's blood type is B and can receive a kidney from either a B or O blood type donor. Zach's care is handled at UMass Memorial Transplant Program in Worcester, MA. Additional information can be found at
https://www.umssmemorialhealthcare.org/umass-memorial-medical-center/services-treatments/surgery/services-we-provide/transplant-surgery/kidney-transplanthttps://www.umassmemorialhealthcare.org/umass-memorial-medical-center/services-treatments/surgery/services-we-provide/transplant-surgery/kidney-transplant
Please contact the Living Kidney Donor Coordinator at UMASS at 508-334-1269 and press option 4 if you are serious about donating a kidney to Zach, and would like more information on the testing process.
The day after September 11th 2001, Eastern Connecticut State University college junior, Zachary Britt, decided to join the Marine Corps. He knew the moment he saw the planes crash into the twin towers his country was never going to be the same. He was excited and proud to enter a new chapter of his life devoted to protecting and serving his country. June 2009 his dreams were altered when he was told he would no longer be able to serve as a Marine and that his separation date from the Marine Corps would be August 2009.
Zach is now a Marine Corps Veteran Sergeant who has been permanently retired due to end stage renal failure. He served as an infantry Marine for over seven years and became retired August 2009 after recently being honored as an Armed Services Member of the Year. He had intended to serve his country in the Marine Corps for as long as he could, but his dreams were abruptly shortened when doctors discovered his kidney disease one week before he was scheduled to leave for a second deployment in 2007. He was training for a deployment to Iraq in Twentynine Palms, CA which he had volunteered for with a random unit out of Arkansas. Zach's Connecticut unit which he deployed to Iraq with in 2003-2004 was Charlie Company 1/25 out of Plainville, CT.
Zach married Katie McGrath in December of 2008 and is now 38 years old. His family and wife are incompatible matches for a kidney transplant and he can only hope to find a living donor someday soon.
Zach has began dialysis treatments 5 years ago and still works full time. He completes over 60 hours a week of dialysis at home. He is on the waiting list for a kidney which he was told will take 5-7 years, the longest waiting time for any blood type. If he receives a kidney from a living donor (instead of deceased from the waitlist), the longevity of his transplant has a better outcome and a better chance of acceptance. Living kidney donation is the preferred outcome especially for someone his age.
Please reach us at zbkidneydonation@gmail.com
Below are links related to the risks of living kidney donation:
" With the present knowledge this risk is small and in general the donation outcome is excellent... With proper workâup and proper information of the potential risks involved, we strongly support an active use of living kidney donation." http://ndt.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/5/871.full
"Among a cohort of live kidney donors compared with a healthy matched cohort, the mortality rate was not significantly increased after a median of 6.3 years. " http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/303/10/959?home
"The study found that the live kidney donors were no more likely to die than the comparison group" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/health/research/16prognosis.html
