Where do I start?
Me? I’m Harry Kiernan, born June 20, 1953, living in Glastonbury, CT. On Saturday, March 12, 2005, I attended the National Kidney Foundation of Connecticut (NKF-CT) Sixth Annual Black Tie Gala at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. I had donated some of my art work for their auction and they were kind enough to give me a ticket. I met some wonderful people and was very impressed by the organization and their dedication. After learning more about the kidney, kidney disease and our ability to give a kidney, I immediately thought ‘I could give one of mine’.
Well, almost two years went by without any real action on my part. Even though a friend of mine had a kidney transplant from his brother earlier, I still took no action. Finally, in late January ’07, I contacted my friend Ron Sallerson of the NKF-CT and asked for his guidance on donating a kidney. He gave me the name of Audrey White, RN, Kidney Transplant Coordinator, Hartford Hospital Transplant Program.
This March (’07) will mark the tenth anniversary of my wife Denise’s death after battling Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for more than eleven years. For years I watched her condition worsening daily and feeling helpless in not being able to ‘fix’ it. I knew nothing about MS, and the havoc it puts your body and mind through, before Denise. I was equally ignorant about kidney disease. One can only imagine what any person with any disease or condition has to deal with on a daily bases. I am a firm believer in quality of life, not longevity, in living life. Anything I can realistically do, to help with another’s quality of life, I will.