Rare six-part kidney transplant at Jewish Hospital brings new family together

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After a rare six-part transplant at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, six people are bonded by three kidneys. On Tuesday, they sat down together to talk about the gift they share that few people will ever understand.

Kathy Clements, Whitney Webster and Dianna Rainbolt each donated a kidney -- and Phyllis Webster, Elizabeth Hardesty and Bill Clements were each recipients. But like a game of white elephant, the donors were matched up with different recipients than they expected. The end result, was a brand new family that shares a bond of love.

Kathy wanted to donate her kidney to her 70-year-old husband, Bill, who had been deteriorating from a genetic kidney disease.

"It's hard," Clements said. "You see him going down. His color is not good, and he can't do things he wants to."

There was only one problem: her kidney wasn't a match.

Dianna wanted to donate her kidney to her daughter in law, Elizabeth Hardesty, who had been diagnosed with the same disorder.

"The instant I knew Elizabeth needed a kidney, the kidney I had was no longer mine," Rainbolt said. "It was hers."

But her kidney wasn't a match.

Whitney Webster wanted to help her aunt, Phyllis.

"Ever since I found out my aunt needed a transplant, I felt like I was going to be able to help her out in some way," Webster said.

But her kidney wasn't a match either. None of the donors' kidneys were a match for their loved ones. So Jewish Hospital proposed a rare domino surgery.

It worked like this: Kathy donates her kidney to Phyllis, Whitney to Elizabeth, and Dianna to Bill.

The six went under the knife on Nov. 1. 

"This was my first one where we did a three-way swap at one hospital," said Dr. Mary Eng, a Jewish Hospital transplant surgeon.

It was Jewish Hospital's first domino transplant since 2013 and it was a success, all six patients have been released from the hospital and are returning to normal lives. The recipients are fully aware of the gift they've been given. 

"They're angels," said Bill Clemnets. "Blessing," echoed Phyllis Webster. 

More than 93,000 patients need kidneys in the United States. Living donors can cut down the wait time considerably.

To learn more about the kidney transplant waiting list, CLICK HERE.

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