Seeking a random act of kindness

We can’t see what’s in our future, but sometimes a moment from the past may give us a glimpse. For Bill Whipple, a business owner who is married to Asante patient service representative Tracy Whipple, that moment came about a decade ago. Driving down Highway 140, Bill spotted a cloud of dust rising from the nearby sports park.

“Something told him to turn around,” Tracy says. As he entered the park he found a man lying face down in the dirt, unconscious. A wrecked bike lay nearby. Bill called 911 and the injured man was taken to the hospital.

Bill didn’t know the man and would never see him again. But his single act of selflessness very well might have changed the man’s life.

Today, Bill is facing his own life crisis, one that also might be saved by an act of generosity from a stranger.

At 52, Bill was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 polycystic kidney disease, a hereditary condition that affected his father’s side of the family. His options are daily dialysis — which would require hours of near-daily treatment for life — or a kidney transplant. The wait list for a kidney from a deceased donor, however, contains more than 100,000 names and could take five years.

So the Whipples are hoping to find a living person to donate a kidney.

“Asking a family member, a friend or a total stranger to consider donating a kidney to me is difficult,” Bill said. “But it greatly improves my chances of getting a transplant. A living kidney donation typically lasts longer and has better function.”

Tracy, who works for APP’s internal medicine clinic in Ashland, created a Facebook page called Please help Bill Whipple find a kidney. With photos of Bill, Tracy, daughters Jo-C, Danielle and Billeigh and their dogs Bob and Molly, the page is a reminder that a health crisis ripples through generations of family members and beyond.

Bill’s brothers suffer from the same condition, as did his father, who died Feb. 10 from complications of an infection. He left behind Bill’s mother, who suffers from dementia and is now living with the Whipples in Eagle Point.

“Right now it’s a mental battle,” Tracy said. “You lose sleep. You’re worried constantly.”

As the Whipples seek a living kidney donor (Tracy cannot donate for medical reasons) they’re also moving forward with options for dialysis treatments. This includes a surgical procedure to create a fistula — a connection between an artery and a vein — to ensure dialysis can be delivered. It can take up to eight months for the fistula to be ready for use, however.

“Getting regular dialysis treatments will help my kidneys do their job and keep me alive,” Bill said in a message posted on the couple’s Facebook page. “But a transplant would offer me more freedom and the ability to live a longer, healthier, more normal life. A transplant would also give me more time to do the fun things I enjoy most, like spending time with my family and friends, working, camping and vacationing.”

The page, which includes information on how kidney donations work, drew more than 2,800 views in its first four days. And Tracy has already received a message from a woman asking about testing for eligibility.

Still, the family knows that the chances of finding a living donor may be slim. They’re hoping for a miracle. Maybe a loved one will be the perfect candidate. Or maybe it’s a stranger who passes by the Whipples’ Facebook page … and decides to turn around.