National Minority Donor Awareness Month: Mother, daughter use transplant journey to raise awareness
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- When Alexandria Warner needed a kidney after a devastating car crash, her mother helped give her a second chance at life by becoming part of a donor exchange program.
Now, during National Minority Donor Awareness Month, Warner and her mother, Sue Levy Giles, are sharing their story to encourage more people of color to become organ donors and help address disparities in transplantation.
Warner was critically injured in 2019 when a driver rear-ended a car near her school, Spelman College. The crash severed both of her large renal arteries, leading to the loss of both kidneys.
From that point on, Warner underwent dialysis five days a week while waiting for a transplant.
"It was very scary for me; at the time I was 20, just turned 21. And when you're told 7-10 years, you can imagine that's almost a third of your life going by right there," Warner said.
Warner's wait for a kidney was shortened through a donor exchange program that also allowed her mother to donate a kidney to another recipient.
"The ability for me to donate a kidney to another person, and give that other person a second chance at life," Levy Giles said.
"Was just an opportunity that I personally could not pass up. And in exchange, it allowed my daughter to be able to get a second chance at life," she said.
Advocates say the need for organ donors is especially significant in communities of color.
According to figures cited in the report, about 60% of people waiting for a kidney transplant are people of color, while conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes contribute to the need for transplants.
Dr. Anthony Watkins said communities of color face both higher rates of disease and lower rates of living organ donation.
"We have the lowest rates of living donation in the country, and then, as I mentioned before, yet the highest need," Watkins said.
He said a combination of factors contributes to disparities in transplant access and outcomes.
"When you, you know, look at the higher prevalence of that disease, and the decreased access to transplant, the decreased access to quality healthcare, you see this domino effect and how it impacts our community," Watkins said.
Warner and Levy Giles are now using their experience to promote organ donation and encourage conversations about healthcare disparities.
"I think that the call is for us to," Levy Giles said.
"Erase the disparities and the barriers that exist between the medical community, the medical system and communities of color," she said.
As part of those efforts, Levy Giles and Watkins are hosting a screening of the documentary Abundant on Friday at the AMC Fashion District to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation.
