Support Living Kidney Donation

The Issue

WaitList Zero was founded by two living kidney donors to increase living kidney donation. Co-founder Thomas Kelly’s story appeared online in the Washington Post. The organization’s other co-founder, Josh Morrison, donated three years ago to John Mendes, a man he didn’t know before giving. Since then, the two have become close friends. That's why we need you to ask HRSA to support living kidney donation and make more stories like Josh and John's possible.

Before receiving a transplant, John was on dialysis for eight hard years. The first time John was dialyzed, the treatment malfunctioned and was so painful he thought he’d rather die than ever go back. Until he received a working kidney, the treatments left him exhausted and barely able to leave the house.

John was young, in good health besides his kidney failure, and a prime candidate for transplantation, but he never asked anyone to donate: he worried that he’d be a burden and that his friends would think transplant surgery was very dangerous (it’s not) or would make their lives shorter (it doesn’t). His unspoken need for a transplant colored all of his relationships during this difficult period. As he puts it, “It was like a dead body in the room every time one of my friends came over. Both of us knew it was there, but neither of us would talk about it. It was always like: he wasn’t offering, and I wasn’t asking.”

John and kidney failure patients everywhere deserve better. Policies exist that can educate patients and their families about transplantation and to support donors for the financial costs of donation (like their lost wages after surgery) to make it easier for patients to ask for a transplant and easier for donors to give.

Unfortunately, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the federal agency responsible for organ donation, does not yet support policies to increase living kidney donation – policies to help patients like John. HRSA deserves credit for the great work they've done to increase deceased donation, but we're calling on them to support living donation as well.

HRSA has agreed to meet with our coalition of patient and donor groups to discuss their stance. We need your support to help them rethink their position and make the right decision. Please sign this petition to ask HRSA to support policies to increase living kidney donation.

avatar of the starter
WaitList ZeroPetition StarterThousands of Americans die needlessly because they don’t receive the needed kidney transplant. Hundreds of millions of Americans are never even asked to consider donating their kidney in life. Of those that do, many face substantial costs. Some who seek to donate their kidney are rejected for financial reasons. We believe that every American who would benefit from a kidney transplant should receive one. We recognize that the kidney shortage is so severe that increases in living donation are needed to end the shortage. We believe that no potential living donor should be denied the chance to save a life because they can’t afford to take time off work. We believe that living donors should not be made worse off from their sacrifice and should be appropriately supported. We recognize that the alternative treatment to kidney failure, dialysis, is tremendously expensive and that increasing living donation will offer tremendous fiscal benefits to the federal government.
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This petition had 8,901 supporters

The Issue

WaitList Zero was founded by two living kidney donors to increase living kidney donation. Co-founder Thomas Kelly’s story appeared online in the Washington Post. The organization’s other co-founder, Josh Morrison, donated three years ago to John Mendes, a man he didn’t know before giving. Since then, the two have become close friends. That's why we need you to ask HRSA to support living kidney donation and make more stories like Josh and John's possible.

Before receiving a transplant, John was on dialysis for eight hard years. The first time John was dialyzed, the treatment malfunctioned and was so painful he thought he’d rather die than ever go back. Until he received a working kidney, the treatments left him exhausted and barely able to leave the house.

John was young, in good health besides his kidney failure, and a prime candidate for transplantation, but he never asked anyone to donate: he worried that he’d be a burden and that his friends would think transplant surgery was very dangerous (it’s not) or would make their lives shorter (it doesn’t). His unspoken need for a transplant colored all of his relationships during this difficult period. As he puts it, “It was like a dead body in the room every time one of my friends came over. Both of us knew it was there, but neither of us would talk about it. It was always like: he wasn’t offering, and I wasn’t asking.”

John and kidney failure patients everywhere deserve better. Policies exist that can educate patients and their families about transplantation and to support donors for the financial costs of donation (like their lost wages after surgery) to make it easier for patients to ask for a transplant and easier for donors to give.

Unfortunately, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the federal agency responsible for organ donation, does not yet support policies to increase living kidney donation – policies to help patients like John. HRSA deserves credit for the great work they've done to increase deceased donation, but we're calling on them to support living donation as well.

HRSA has agreed to meet with our coalition of patient and donor groups to discuss their stance. We need your support to help them rethink their position and make the right decision. Please sign this petition to ask HRSA to support policies to increase living kidney donation.

avatar of the starter
WaitList ZeroPetition StarterThousands of Americans die needlessly because they don’t receive the needed kidney transplant. Hundreds of millions of Americans are never even asked to consider donating their kidney in life. Of those that do, many face substantial costs. Some who seek to donate their kidney are rejected for financial reasons. We believe that every American who would benefit from a kidney transplant should receive one. We recognize that the kidney shortage is so severe that increases in living donation are needed to end the shortage. We believe that no potential living donor should be denied the chance to save a life because they can’t afford to take time off work. We believe that living donors should not be made worse off from their sacrifice and should be appropriately supported. We recognize that the alternative treatment to kidney failure, dialysis, is tremendously expensive and that increasing living donation will offer tremendous fiscal benefits to the federal government.
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Health Resources and Services Administration
Health Resources and Services Administration

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Petition created on January 5, 2015