ST. LOUIS - Over 96,000 Americans are currently on the kidney transplant waiting list, yet only around 16,000 kidney transplants are performed in the U.S. annually.
It highlights the need for living donation — someone donating a kidney to a friend or loved one.
Dan Keim's story is an example and is best told in the below email sent by his best friend Dave Bauer. Dan is a detective in the St. Louis County Police Department while Dave is a sergeant in the Missouri Highway Patrol and they are longtime friends. Their story was told recently by KSDK's Kay Quinn in the story above.
Here is Dave's email:
This is a plea to all who can help a dedicated public servant who has dedicated his life to serve his neighbors, friends and the people of St. Louis County. Now he needs our help.
Over the past several years, Dan Keim has been living with a degenerative kidney disease. The progression of the disease has been held at bay since Dan was first diagnosed at the age of 17, at which time he had to undergo a painful biopsy of his kidney, by 1978 standards, to make such determination. During this past year Dan's kidneys have rapidly been failing him. After hours and days of testing at St. Louis University Hospital, he received the news that he has been fearing in the back of his mind for the past 36 years, he needs a kidney transplant. He has been placed on the transplant recipient waiting list as of today.
Dan's best chance at anything close to a normal life is to receive a kidney from a live donor. He has been told by his physician that the average life of a donated kidney from a deceased person is only 8 years. With that in mind, Dan would likely be placed on a transplant list again at age 61, which would greatly reduce his chance of receiving another kidney in time unlikely. If he receives a kidney from a live donor, the average life of the donated kidney is more like 15 to 20 years.
As we go through life, we meet people who are givers and we meet people who are takers and only think of themselves. Dan is the epitome of a giver. He has been a police officer for the St. Louis County Police Department for over 20 years. During that time he has been a leader of their explorers program and a D.A.R.E. officer. He has developed computer programs for the police department that are still in use today. He continued his education to better himself by achieving his Masters Degree by attending night school while working his job with St. Louis County and while helping raise his son and daughter. Dan also has completed many remodeling jobs for people he has come in contact with. More specifically Dan took time out of his schedule to build a deck on the back of a home for a man diagnosed with stage 4 cancer so the man could spend what time he had remaining with his grandchildren outdoors and not far from facilities at his home.
Dan did not ask me to make this plea. I asked him for permission to do so because I think if anyone deserves our help, it is Dan. Dan does not need money, he needs a kidney. Thankfully he has adequate insurance to cover much of his medical expenses (For Now), The transplant surgeon has informed Dan that a live donor of a kidney will continue to live a healthy and normal life. In fact, the remaining kidney will compensate for the kidney that will be donated. Many people are born with only one kidney and they never know it. If you or anyone you know has been considering being a live donor, this is the time and this is the person who will benefit greatly from your gift. Dan will of course continue to give back to society, but he needs our help.
For information on how you can help Dan, PLEASE call Dan's transplant coordinators Ellen Qualls at 314-268-5228 or Sherry Tenge at 314-268-5319.
Thank you for your consideration.
It's important to note Dan is not the only patient who needs a living donor. For more information on living donation, click here.
