Strangers’ kidney donations combine to save 2-year-old born in end-stage kidney failure
Two-year-old Cooper Thompson had been on dialysis for over half his life before receiving a lifesaving kidney donation in March.
His kidneys didn’t develop properly in the womb due to a lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO), a rare fetal condition that caused his urine to back up and damage the organs. Cooper’s family found out about the blockage at their 20-week anatomy scan and, though it had resolved itself, LUTO had already caused permanent damage.
Around the time of Cooper’s birth, Ali Hansen was starting the process of living kidney donation — something she had wanted to do since interning with the Iowa Donor Network as a student at Iowa State University.
“A lot of my coworkers were close to organ donation; they had loved ones who had donated or received an organ and it had changed their lives,” said Hansen, now 27. “I have two kidneys, and I only need one. I wanted to give that second kidney to someone who needed it.”
AShe didn’t know at the time that her kidney would eventually be given to Cooper through the National Kidney Registry’s voucher program, an example of paired kidney exchange. Her donation would give the young boy and his family a new lease on life after surgery at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital.
“Ali entered this process as a nondirected donor, meaning she didn’t have an intended recipient she was hoping to benefit, but she knew her kidney would go to a recipient somewhere in the United States,” said Annie Doyle, RN, BSN, CCTN, a living donor coordinator with M Health Fairview. “It just so happened that she was the exact right fit for one of our very own pediatric patients, Cooper.”
Care team, family ― and a stranger — prepare Cooper for transplant
Cooper experienced a number of complications after birth, and he spent time in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Even upon transitioning home, he underwent dialysis five days a week, provided by his mother, Katie, via an at-home dialysis machine. This meant spending 10 hours at a time connected to the machine, often overnight. Meanwhile, throughout Cooper’s first two years of life, our team at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital worked to get him healthy enough for transplant.
The family shared Cooper’s journey on social media, which caught the attention of a husband and wife in Wisconsin. The woman donated a kidney on Cooper’s behalf, providing him not with the organ itself but with a voucher from the National Kidney Registry that gave Cooper priority to receive a living kidney donation. Four weeks later, Cooper and Ali were matched.
M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center is a national leader in paired kidney exchanges. This option allows living donors who may want to donate to a loved one but aren’t a good match for that person to still help. The donor can give their kidney to another recipient on the paired exchange waiting list, and their loved one will receive a second living donation from a live donor who is a good match.
“Ali was an ideal donor for Cooper as she was a good tissue match, she was young, she had excellent kidney function,” said Doyle. “The icing on the cake was that she was from our own center. The kidney only needed to take a short trip across the bridge to Cooper’s operating room.”
A paired kidney donation saved Gavin Dahms 17 years after his first transplant. Read more.
Support for living donors
Doyle is part of the multidisciplinary team that prepared Ali for living donation. Our living kidney donor team includes transplant coordinators, transplant surgeons, nephrologists, social workers, living donor advocates, registered dietitians, pharmacists, and others who work together to support donors.
“We spend a lot of time discussing the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle post-donation, as well as follow-up care,” said Doyle. “With younger donors, they have more of their lives ahead of them. Ali has wanted to donate a kidney since was 19 years old – she came to this journey with many years of consideration, intention, and motivation.”
On March 2, Ali had one of her kidneys removed at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center. Shortly after, Cooper underwent transplant at our children’s hospital.
Living donation offers best outlook for Cooper
A living organ donation was the best long-term option, said Srinath Chinnakotla, MD, who performed Cooper’s transplant. By the time of transplant, Cooper had already undergone multiple complex abdominal surgeries at our children’s hospital.
“When we have a complex patient like Cooper, a living donation is the best option for a child. In Cooper’s case, it has really helped a lot,” said Chinnakotla, who also serves as surgical director of pediatric transplantation and a professor with the University of Minnesota Medical School. “Kidneys from living donors begin working immediately; the patient doesn’t have to go back on dialysis.”
There’s also a longer lifespan for living donor organs, which can last over 30 years. For a young child like Cooper, it means the opportunity to be a kid and grow up to live a full life.
