obesity and heart disease. All increase the risk of kidney disease and heart disease. Access to healthcare may also play a role.
Always committed to helping others, Oliver Kellman is filled with gratitude that two organ donors donated the heart and kidney that saved his life. (Courtesy of Oliver Kellman)
“Some years before my transplant,” Kellman said, “I had been told by doctors that I had an enlarged heart that was probably caused due to untreated hypertension, which ran in my family. I did not know at the time, but both my parents had high blood pressure, hypertension, and my brother has hypertension.
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From ‘The Inspiration Edition’ A heart for service
By Kayla (Hawthorne) Dunham - khawthorne@aimmediamidwest.com
Brandy Barkey Sweeney, pictured front row at center with her students from the Careers in Education course at the Mason County Career Center (MCCC). Students made no-sew pillows to be sent to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for transplant recipients.
Couresty | Brandy Sweeney
Brandy Barkey Sweeney with her husband Brandon and children Bryson, Braydon and Braylon Sweeney, all pictured supporting a past observance of National Donate Life Month at Pleasant Valley Hospital, along with other members of the community.
OVP File Photo
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. A local heart transplant recipient took an opportunity to teach students at the Mason County Career Center about organ donation through a unique class project.
From ‘The Inspiration Edition’ A heart for service
By Kayla (Hawthorne) Dunham - khawthorne@aimmediamidwest.com
Brandy Barkey Sweeney, pictured front row at center with her students from the Careers in Education course at the Mason County Career Center (MCCC). Students made no-sew pillows to be sent to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for transplant recipients.
Couresty | Brandy Sweeney
Brandy Barkey Sweeney with her husband Brandon and children Bryson, Braydon and Braylon Sweeney, all pictured supporting a past observance of National Donate Life Month at Pleasant Valley Hospital, along with other members of the community.
OVP File Photo
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. A local heart transplant recipient took an opportunity to teach students at the Mason County Career Center about organ donation through a unique class project.
How 2 Black Organ Transplant Recipients Beat The Odds
How 2 Black Organ Transplant Recipients Beat The Odds
Comments Off on How 2 Black Organ Transplant Recipients Beat The Odds
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020, Oliver Kellman’s heart and kidney failed. He required two transplants to survive.
When he went to the hospital on May 14, thinking he would probably need dialysis, he was told he needed a heart transplant within the next two or three weeks or “you won’t make it in the middle of COVID,” Kellman, an attorney and lobbyist, recalled.
For Kellman, a 6-foot-4-inch-tall black man, the odds of finding a donor organ match were slim. The number of African Americans in need of organ transplants outpaces the number of black donors.