Organ donor match website connects man with strangers for 2 kidney transplants

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.

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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.”  

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