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Southmountain
Director Donates Kidney
Lisa White needed a kidney transplant
to stay alive, but she never expected her boss to sign up as a
donor. Chris Jernigan, director of Alliance member agency
Southmountain Children and Family Services in Nebo, N.C., said he
had watched White, his friend and colleague of more than 11 years,
grow sick and struggle to come into work. White has polycystic
kidney disease—a potentially deadly, genetic disease that causes
cysts to form on the kidneys.
Most people are born with two kidneys, but can live perfectly normal
lives with only one. It’s that knowledge that convinced Jernigan to
give up one of his to help his colleague and friend.
White was told she'd be lucky to find a donor outside the family who
met one of the six indicators. Jernigan met three of the six
indicators of a good donor, including age and blood type.
“I care very much about every employee and want to do everything I
can to make it a better work place and to make their lives better,”
Jernigan said during an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“This was just one more thing that I was able to do to help out a
good friend and an employee.”
"We joke around about how we don't have a lot of money so it's
either this or a pay raise, and we don't have the money to give you
a raise Lisa,” Jernigan joked.
White hopes her boss’ generosity will inspire others to donate
organs – she says the waiting list for a donor kidney in North
Carolina is about five years.
“I just hope that there are more people who will see this and come
forward and become donors because it’s a wonderful thing that he has
done for me,” White said. “I feel the best I’ve felt in a really
long time.”
Learn more about Southmountain
here.
Television interviews of Jernigan and White are available for
viewing on the organization's homepage.
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