Aug. 24--WEST HAVEN -- When Brenda Zmuda made the difficult decision to donate her mother's kidneys after she died to save the lives of two Connecticut men, she had no idea that nine years later she would be looking for a kidney to save her husband.
Now a little good karma might be heading Brenda's way.
Her husband, Steven Zmuda, a diabetic who undergoes nightly dialysis because of chronic renal failure, is set to receive a healthy kidney donated by a complete stranger just looking to save a life and help out a family. That stranger is Mary Gotay, a single mother who overheard Brenda talking about Steven's ailing health outside their kids' school one day in May.
"After all we've been through in the last year, we didn't expect the kindness of a stranger to save Steve's life," Brenda says.
Though still unusual, more and more people are stepping up as living donors willing to give up an organ to save a life. Kim Hathaway, chief executive officer of the National Kidney Foundation of Connecticut, says it's called being a "Good Samaritan" donor and it is becoming more popular because of increased education and awareness about organ donation.
Still, Hathaway points out that Connecticut has a low rate of organ donation and a huge list of people waiting to receive organs. According to the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, Connecticut has 728 people waiting for a kidney.
If it wasn't for Gotay, Steven would have been one more name added to that long list.
"It could be five or six years on the list," he says.
It all started about a year ago when Steven went to the hospital with chest pains and doctors diagnosed him with congestive heart failure. After initially thinking the heart problem was affecting the 29-year-old diabetic's kidneys, doctors soon realized his failing kidneys were to blame for the heart problem. Then last September, Steven was diagnosed with end-state renal, or kidney, failure. Kidneys are crucial organs that help the body excrete waste.
"It was scary," Steven says, recalling the revelation. Since last fall, he has been undergoing nightly dialysis to survive and has encountered close calls several times. He continues to work part-time at Sonitrol security systems of Bridgeport.
When she isn't helping her husband with his dialysis, Brenda raises the couple's three kids -- Starriana, 9, Brianna, 6, and 3-year-old Steven. One day in May, when Brenda was picking up the girls from Washington School, she had an emotional conversation with a friend about Steven's worsening condition.
Enter Gotay.
"She came up and said 'I don't mean to be nosy, but you seem upset,'" Brenda recalls of her first encounter with Gotay, who was picking up her son, Israel Gonzalez, 11, from the same school.
Gotay says she overheard Brenda say her husband's blood type is "O" negative, the same as hers. So Gotay offered to help.
"She looked at me like I was crazy," Gotay says and smiles at Brenda as the two sit side-byside on the Zmudas' front porch. "The kindness of strangers just doesn't happen these days."
But Gotay was determined to prove the opposite and was persistent in offering her help to Brenda and Steven. Finally, Brenda gave in and Gotay got tested to see if she could be a match for Steven. So far, none of his friends who offered to help turned out to be matches and because of a family history of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems, Steven's own family didn't make ideal candidates either.
Against all odds, Gotay was a match.
"It was a shock," Steven says, smiling. "This is a big procedure for them both to go to," Brenda adds.
After finding out she was a match, Gotay had to undergo more testing to ensure she could function with only one kidney.
"I did an EKG test, CAT scan, MRI, blood work," she says. In addition, Gotay had to talk to a psychiatrist and a social worker.
"The process was very long and very tiring," she says.
Gotay will not have to pay for the surgery to remove her own kidney; Steven's insurance covers that cost. But neither will Gotay be reimbursed for the time lost from work when she will be recovering from surgery for six to eight weeks. The Zmudas have vowed to help raise money to offset those costs.
Sept. 25 is the big day for the transplant, which will take place at Yale-New Haven Hospital. The two former strangers will undergo surgery in the same operating room, with doctors removing a kidney from Gotay and immediately transplanting it into Steven.
Brenda says Gotay has transcended her role as "good Samaritan." "She's become more than a stranger to us; she's a part of the family," Brenda says.
Gotay has one request of Steven for after the transplant surgery: to take care of himself. She also hopes her act inspires others to consider organ donation.
"I just want to show people out there that there is still hope for them," she says. For Steven and Brenda, hope is still alive, but it wasn't always.
"I thought it was going to take forever," he says, shaking his head in disbelief. "Nothing comes easy."
To make a donation to help out the Zmudas and Gotay, checks can be made to the NTAF Northeast Kidney Transplant Fund and sent to NTAF, 150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120, Radnor, PA 19087. In the memo section of check, please write "In honor of Steve Zmuda."
There will also be fundraisers for the family, including a car wash on Saturday at New Life Evangelical Free Church, 255 Jones Hill Road, West Haven. To see more of New Haven Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nhregister.com. Copyright (c) 2008, New Haven Register, Conn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2008 New Haven Register, Conn.