Black donors needed to help save lives

Aissatou Sidime-Blanton has always wanted to help save a life. 

At 19, she had a red donor sticker stamped on her driver’s license. She’d signed up for a bone marrow registry. She’d been on a post-mortem organ donation list for years.

Sidime-Blanton got her wish last month. She became a living donor after giving her left kidney to a stranger. As a non-directed donor, her organ was available for anyone who matched genetically and wasn’t limited to a sick family member or friend.

“For me, it was something that’s natural,” Sidime-Blanton, 52, said. “If you see someone who is hungry, and you have a table full of food, you’ll provide them with food. In this case, there are people on this list who will die. If you give one, maybe it could add another 20 or 25 years.”

About 90,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant, and more than 10,000 need a liver transplant in the United States.

Sidime-Blanton learned there was a living donor list when she attended an organ donation presentation last year at St. Paul United Methodist Church. When she chose that option, a rightness came over her mind and spirit — especially when she learned that 40% of people on the kidney donation waiting list were of African descent.

She prayed. She talked to her husband, sister and a previous donor. There were tests, blood work and meetings with social workers.

In the fall, University Health contacted her — they had a match. That October morning, Sidime-Blanton underwent kidney transplant surgery. 

She shared her story at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday as part of an organ donor register presentation hosted by the San Antonio Chapter of The Links Incorporated. The event, held in the church sanctuary, was in honor of the National Donor Sabbath, an annual awareness day observed each second Sunday of November.

Dr. Margaret Kelley said the chapter had shared the message to African Americans about becoming organ, eye, marrow and tissue donors for 20 years. 

She said the Links partners with Black pastors to dispel the myth that religions are against organ donations.

One of the organization’s programs, “Linkages To Life,” shares information about the need for organ and tissue transplants.  

“Because one who is most likely to have a tissue match from one who is of a similar race and ethnicity, an African American is more likely to die awaiting an organ transplant,” she said. “The reason why is so few of us are willing to be organ, tissue or bone marrow donors.” 

The most common organ transplant for African Americans is the kidney.

There’s a similar need for cornea donors, said Simera Nichols, director of partner relations and strategic communications at the San Antonio Eye Bank.

“Each year, thousands of people are in need of cornea transplants because of disease, injuries or infections,” Nichols said. “It’s a small decision that can have a large impact.” 

Precious Coleman, widow of Brian Coleman, spoke about the honor of her husband’s designation as a Cornea Donor Hero. He had checked his license to become a donor. She shared her family’s story to encourage others to donate. 

Coleman said she is part of a widows group that, unfortunately, keeps growing. Sharing her story is a way to keep her husband’s legacy alive. 

“His donation allows him to live, and he’s so important to others,” Coleman said. “I petition you today to live as Jesus taught us. God said, ‘to honor one another above yourself.’”

Living liver donations are the second-most-needed organ. Up to 70% of a donor’s liver is usually given because it will regenerate for the donor and recipients. 

Puente said Sidime-Blanton is a good example of someone who came forward and created a ripple effect to create an opportunity for compatible recipient and donor pairings.

Sometimes, loved ones who hoped to donate to a specific patient aren’t a match for that person, but they match somebody else on the transplant list. Sidime-Blanton’s donation spurred the living donor for that patient to give their kidney to another person on the list. 

“Because of her, a kidney chain was created where five recipients were able to receive matches thanks to her altruism,” Puente said.

Seventeen people die every day waiting for a transplant, she said. She added there is a five- to eight-year wait for a kidney in Texas, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

Donors must be in good physical and mental health, between 21 and 70 years of age to donate a kidney while living, and between ages 21 to 60 to donate a segment of liver.

Puente said the kidney donor surgery’s most common procedure is laparoscopic surgery, which is three to six hours long. A small incision is made in the abdomen to remove the kidney, which makes for a quicker recovery. 

It’s the procedure Sidime-Blanton underwent for her donation. 

She arrived at the hospital at 5 a.m. for the 7:30 a.m. surgery and listened to “Glory,” a song by singer John Legend and rapper Common. At 1:45 p.m., she was back in her room. She recalled waking without pain. Later that day, she was up and walking. 

Sidime-Blanton said that recovery isn’t the norm for everyone. She was restricted from lifting more than 10 pounds and could work up to six hours a day. Now a certified financial planner, Sidime-Blanton once was a reporter for the San Antonio Express-News.

The only limitation still in place after the surgery is being unable to do her Zumba workouts.

In February, there’s one more post-surgery appointment — she’s scheduled to meet the recipient, a family man, who received her kidney.

“I’m happy I made the decision,” Sidime-Blanton said.  

Health awareness is one of the church’s priorities, said Velma Kemp, first lady of Antioch and member of the Links. Rev. Kenneth R. Kemp, Antioch’s senior pastor and a retired Army colonel, worked as a full-time pulmonologist at Brooke Army Medical Center. He still practices as a pulmonary physician. 

“This is not new for us,” she said. “Here at this church, we are very active in making sure health is taken care of. It was an honor to host the Links. What we try to do is to make sure to serve the community, and Antioch is a community-serving church.”