To this day, George Contreras carries a laminated picture of Jose Barreiro, Jr., on his key chain as a constant reminder of the gift of life he received from the 20-year-old young man whom he never met. Mr. Contreras had written to the family after his transplant surgery to thank them for donating Jose’s kidney following his untimely death. But he had never met them. That came later when he attended a Sharing Network Donor Recognition program for transplant recipients and donor families. “I knew she was the one. It was just a gut feeling that I had,” says Mr. Contreras.
According to Mary Ellen McGlynn, The Sharing Network’s Family Support Program Manager, confidentiality is maintained unless both sides want to meet, as in the case of Mr. Contreras and Miriam Barreiro.
“I saw him and I knew,” says Ms. Barreiro. “My heart started spinning and we hugged and cried.” They spent time looking at a photo album showing Jose Barreiro at his high school graduation and with his friends. “It was a tough night, very emotional,” reflects Mr. Contreras. Since then, he has been in touch with Ms. Barreiro on a regular basis by phone. He has been to the Barreiro’s house for dinner a number of times and has accompanied her to Donor Recognition events and to Jose’s grave. When she was ill, he visited her in the hospital.
It has been a long journey for George Contreras, beginning with the diagnosis of polycystic kidney disease in high school. For the next 18 years he was in and out of the hospital. In 1994, test results indicated he would need dialysis. But first, a nephrectomy was performed to remove his left kidney. The next step was hemodialysis and then he elected to switch to peritoneal dialysis. “I did that four or five times a day from October 1994 to March 1996.” During this entire period, he continued to work as a project coordinator for a wireless telephone company. “I would go into a small office, have lunch, dialyze, take a short catnap, and then go back to work,” he relates. “Then in 1996 the call came that a kidney had come through and I went straight to Saint Barnabas.”
For Ms. Barreiro, it has been almost six years since Jose was in the hospital and the doctor declared him brain dead following a sudden illness. Ten people have received Jose’s organs, and Mr. Contreras was the first recipient she met. “My son Jose was a wonderful boy. He liked sports and baseball. He played soccer. He enjoyed being with his friends, reading books and traveling. He was attending college and wanted to be a graphics designer,” says Ms. Barreiro.
“I know I can’t take the place of her son,” says Mr. Contreras, “but I try to be there for her just like I know he would have done.”
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