Allison Batson couldn't help but think of her own children when she met Clay Taber, a patient in the transplant unit at Emory University Hospital. The 23-year-old Auburn University graduate had suffered from Goodpasture's syndrome, a rare disease that left him on dialysis and in need of a kidney transplant.
“My own daughter had graduated with her master’s degree, just married the love of her life and was embarking on a new life. That’s the way things should be for young people,” said Batson, ADN, RN, a nurse for three years.
When it was discovered that Taber’s mother wasn’t a match to donate a kidney to her son, he would have to go on a waiting list. The mother of four, Batson understood the fear and anguish she saw in Taber’s mother.
“I thought I could do something about that,” said Batson, 48.
She knew that helpless feeling, having watched her parents die in the hospital. The kindness a patient liaison had shown her mother and her family inspired Batson to embark on a second career in health care. She had been an activities director at a retirement center.
“If I could make one person feel better the way she did, I knew I wanted to do it,” she said.
What Batson did was pretty radical; she wanted to donate one of her kidneys to Taber. The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was the right thing to do.
“He shouldn’t have been on our floor and we shouldn’t have met, but we did. I felt like it was a God thing,” she said.
Batson thought it was a long shot that she’d be a match. She was anxious that it might be against hospital rules or nursing ethics, or that it would leave her unit short-staffed. She also was worried that her family wouldn’t approve.
The worrying was for naught. With her family’s support and the red tape cleared, Batson told her co-workers about the plan.
“I said the good news was that Clay was going to receive a kidney and our unit would be taking care of him, but that they’d be down a nurse for six weeks because I was the donor,” Batson said. “Someone said, ‘Bring it in, this is a great day on [floor] 7G.’ ‘Bring it in’ is our code for group hug. I work in a great place.”
In January, the transplant was successful and Batson and Taber recovered together.
“He’s doing fabulously and the kidney is behaving,” she said. “We talk a couple of times a week and we attended a shower for his wedding.”
Batson’s selfless act has attracted national attention. At a recent Emory Healthcare board meeting, Batson was recognized and received a standing ovation.
“I wasn’t looking for attention, but if it makes even one person consider becoming a living donor, it’s worth it,” she said.
At work, Batson has become the transplant cheerleader and go-to person for questions from kidney donors and recipients.
“When I tell patients that they will feel better and they ask how would I know, I answer, ‘Trust me, I know,’ ” she said. “My confidence level as a nurse has grown. I’m still a newbie, but I’m getting better at taking care of people.”
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