Bianca Castro

McKinney Woman Donates Kidney to Husband

There's a big push to get lifesaving organs to the thousands of people on the wait list for a new kidney.

Last month, President Donald Trump announced an initiative that included methods to increase available organs and there's renewed emphasis on living donations.

A McKinney man found that his perfect match was by his side.

When Ryan and C'ne Coones aren't at home with their pups, they're helping others. Ryan is a hospital paramedic. C'ne is a hospital social worker. 

"I worked a night shift. He worked overnights and that's how we met," C'ne said.

Ryan has diabetes and said he knew there'd be a chance he, at some point, would suffer a scary complication of the disease: kidney failure. That happened earlier this year.

"I actually got short of breathe and I knew something was going on," Ryan said. "If there was anything I could do to help, I wanted to do it and I knew that he would do it for me without any hesitation," C'ne said.

The good news was there was a way for her to help.

She was tested to become a living donor, so she gave one of her kidneys to Ryan right away.

The average wait for a deceased donor kidney is three years.

She was the perfect match, and the two were scheduled for surgery within a few weeks.

"Dialysis is a lifesaving therapy that comes at a price. It causes damage to various organs while it's saving your life, so getting off of dialysis as fast as possible is the most important thing in transplants," said Baylor University Medical Center transplant surgeon Dr. Greg McKenna.

The Coones said they had no complications, have recovered and are back at work.

They said they hoped their story would encourage others to step up and be the perfect match.

"If anybody is out there who is curious about becoming a living donor for a family member, a friend or even a stranger, do it. It is so needed," C'ne said.

Doctors said living donor kidneys often last longer than a deceased donor kidney.

To learn about being living kidney or liver donor, click here.

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