While the average wait for a kidney transplant on the national deceased donor list is seven to nine years, a 74-year-old man from Great Neck, N.Y., received two kidney donations from strangers he met online within five years.
Farhad Hakimian, who suffers from diabetes, first joined MatchingDonors.com in February 2012. The Canton, Mass.-based nonprofit website, which launched in 2004, matches organ donors with those in need of a transplant. Its platform allows patients on transplant lists to post profiles, which can be viewed by potential donors.
Mr. Hakimian received his first kidney from a person he met on the website. When he learned he needed a second kidney transplant, he revisited the website, and found 35-year-old Sabrina Carpenter from Denver after only a few weeks. Mr. Hakimian's second transplant surgery took place on March 3 at New York City-based NYU Langone Medical Center.
"Other organizations concentrate mainly on the passive anonymous portion of finding organ donors — leaving little or no communication between patients and potential donors," said Jeremiah Lowney, MD, medical director at MatchingDonors.com. "MatchingDonors.com is the most comprehensive searching system available."