{"id":83152,"date":"2024-08-02T15:56:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T15:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/three-members-of-north-texas-family-donate-kidneys-to-strangers\/"},"modified":"2024-08-02T15:56:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T15:56:02","slug":"three-members-of-north-texas-family-donate-kidneys-to-strangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/three-members-of-north-texas-family-donate-kidneys-to-strangers\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Members of North Texas Family Donate Kidneys to Strangers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — While some people may give you the shirt off their back, three members of one North Texas family have donated something a lot closer to their hearts \u2013 a kidney to a stranger in need.<\/p>\n

It started with Joel Nickerson, a 43-year-old wastewater plant manager who donated a kidney in September 2023, after signing up through the National Kidney Foundation.<\/p>\n

In December, Ava Nickerson, Joel\u2019s mother and a science teacher at Valley View High School, followed her son\u2019s lead and donated a kidney at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

And most recently, Randy Nickerson, Joel\u2019s father and Ava\u2019s husband, returned to Texas Health Fort Worth on July 24 and donated a kidney as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just look at our lives and my life and how blessed we\u2019ve been, and I\u2019ve got one to give and if somebody can use it, then why not?\u201d said Randy Nickerson, a 70-year-old licensed professional counselor and retired firefighter. \u201cIt\u2019s just what we should do.\u201d<\/p>\n

For staff at Texas Health Fort Worth, where the parents\u2019 surgeries were performed, the family\u2019s kindness is inspiring and a first.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince our kidney transplant program began in 1986, we have never before had two living donors from the same immediate family,\u201d said Robyn Dye, administrator of the program. \u201cTo know that\u00a0three<\/i> members of the same family volunteered to give life to strangers in need is truly amazing, and we are grateful that Texas Health Fort Worth was able to play a part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0An idea takes root<\/b><\/p>\n

The idea to donate a kidney was first planted when Joel Nickerson read a magazine article by a man who had given his kidney to a stranger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know it was possible,\u201d Joel Nickerson said. \u201cI knew people needed kidneys but didn\u2019t know how it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea grew in Joel, and one day, without even telling his plans to his wife, Jessica, he went to the National Kidney Foundation website and signed up to be a donor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI take \u2018love thy neighbor\u2019 seriously, so I\u2019ve always looked for those opportunities,\u201d Joel said. \u201cI saw it being a day in the hospital, a couple weeks\u2019 recovery and that\u2019s it \u2013 you give somebody a new lease on life. That\u2019s a small price to pay, and the risks just aren\u2019t that big compared to the payback.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea spreads<\/b><\/p>\n

Ava Nickerson had once toyed with the idea of donating after learning a friend of a friend needed a kidney, but her busy schedule kept it a passing thought. After watching her son donate, she decided to make it work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reached out to Texas Health, and then Randy saw the email,\u201d Ava Nickerson, 70, said, erupting into laughter. \u201cI didn\u2019t tell him I was going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how we do things,\u201d Randy quipped. \u201cWe just spring stuff on each other in this family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ava had her surgery during her holiday break from school, one of\u00a0three North Texas educators who donated kidneys<\/a> over a three-day span at Texas Health Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

Her husband had no concerns about her decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust God, and it just never entered my mind that she would be in any danger,\u201d Randy said. \u201cI thought, \u2018She\u2019s doing this out of the goodness of her heart.\u2019 I wasn\u2019t worried. Not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Father makes three<\/b><\/p>\n

Randy Nickerson initially believed he was too old to donate a kidney. But when he later learned there is no maximum age limit, he jumped on the bandwagon. Texas Health Fort Worth has facilitated more than 1,250 transplants since the program\u2019s beginning; Randy was its 173rd<\/sup> living donor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the luxury of walking alongside Ava every step of her trip. I went to Fort Worth with her, all of her tests and everything she\u2019d gone through, I knew what to expect \u2026 and they make it as easy as possible for you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Adding to his motivation, he said, was a card that his wife had received from her kidney recipient. In the note, the recipient thanked Ava for her generosity and helping him get his life back and told her that he prays for her every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see that this is having a real-life impact on a person,\u201d Randy said. \u201cThat put a little more emphasis on it and made it a little easier to drive to Fort Worth and back every time we had to go down there. You know, hopefully, it\u2019s going to impact somebody\u2019s life for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

[For additional visuals, including video of interview with Nickerson family and B-roll, contact Deanna Boyd Spangler.]<\/p>\n

\u2013 END \u2013<\/b><\/p>\n

About Texas Health Resources:<\/b>\u00a0
Texas Health Resources is a faith-based, nonprofit health system that cares for more patients in North Texas than any other provider. With a service area that consists of 16 counties and more than 8 million people, the system is committed to providing quality, coordinated care through its Texas Health Physicians Group and 29\u00a0hospital locations under the banners of Texas Health Presbyterian, Texas Health Arlington Memorial, Texas Health Harris\u00a0Methodist\u00a0and Texas Health Huguley. Texas Health access points and services, ranging from acute-care hospitals and trauma centers to outpatient facilities and home health and preventive services, provide the full continuum of care for all stages of life. The system has more than 4,400 licensed hospital beds, 6,600 physicians with active staff privileges and almost 29,000 employees. For more information about Texas Health, call 1-877-THR-WELL, or visit\u00a0www.TexasHealth.org<\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — While some people may give you the shirt off their back, three members of one North Texas family have donated something a lot closer to their hearts \u2013 a kidney to a stranger in need. It started with Joel Nickerson, a 43-year-old wastewater plant manager who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ml.globenewswire.com\/Resource\/Download\/0e7315d2-bfdb-4e59-8215-c62b470dee7b","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[208],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-globenewswire"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}