“After my first appointment, I was already excited about donating a kidney,” Sheila says. “But when I learned more about Ron through DOVE, then I knew it was really meant to be.”
A woman's organ donation gives a veteran a new chance to care for his family.
As a husband, father and Navy veteran, Ronald Kishun always looked out for others, including his wife, Esperanza, and their children. But a battle with end-stage kidney disease threatened his ability to be there for his family.
For seven years, the Spotswood resident needed regular dialysis treatments to keep his kidneys functioning. As his condition worsened, it became challenging for him to care for his adult son Sebastian, who lives with special needs. Ronald needed a kidney transplant—and if he couldn’t find a donor soon, Sebastian would need to move to a group home.
“It was important for me to support my wife and Sebastian,” Ronald says. “No one can take care of your kid better than you.”
Ronald’s first hope was to find a deceased kidney donor, a long and sometimes arduous process. “In our region, patients sometimes have to wait six to eight years on the transplant list before they can find a suitable organ,” says Advaith Bongu, MD, a transplant surgeon at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) and a member of RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group.
Unfortunately, several attempts to match Ronald with a viable organ from a deceased donor didn’t work out. Then one day while receiving dialysis in late 2022, a fellow patient and veteran told Ronald about Donor Outreach for Veterans (DOVE), a nonprofit organization that matches living donors with veterans awaiting transplants.
“He said I should give DOVE a try,” Ronald says. Little did Ronald know that his phone call to DOVE would change his life.
Twist of Fate
Just days after that call, Sheila Devaney was watching the “Tamron Hall” show in her Annandale home when she saw a segment featuring Sharon Kreitzer, DOVE’s executive director.
“I watched 30 minutes of the show, and I was enthralled,” says Sheila, who has actively supported veterans’ foundations for years and participates annually in the Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk, which benefits first responders and catastrophically injured service members.
Inspired by what she saw on TV, Sheila emailed the executive director and asked how to become a living donor. The next day, the two met on Zoom.
“Sharon told me she had a veteran in need who matched my blood type and encouraged me to read his bio on their website,” Sheila says. That patient was Ronald, and Sharon quickly agreed to be his living donor.
“Sheila is the real MVP in this story,” Dr. Bongu says. “Living donation was the best option for Ron, because kidneys from living donors work the fastest and last the longest, and Sheila’s gift of life made that possible for him.”
Ronald experienced several medical issues leading up to his transplant, which required multiple surgeries and a few delays. “Thankfully, we had the expertise at RWJUH to get him ready for transplant safely,” Dr. Bongu says.
A Televised Meeting
Finally, in April 2024, Dr. Bongu and Ronald Pelletier, MD, surgical director with RWJUH’s Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program, performed the living donation surgery.
Five months later, Ron and Sheila met for the first time on the set of the “Tamron Hall” show. They were joined by family, friends and members of the RWJUH Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program to tape an episode that aired for the first time on November 27, 2024.
Ronald soon regained his energy, resumed looking after his family and prepared to start enjoying activities such as hunting and fishing once again. He’s eternally grateful for Sheila’s generosity.
“In my book, she falls under the saint category,” he says. “I can’t comprehend how someone would go to this length to help someone they don’t know.”
Sheila encourages others considering living donation to take the first step and schedule a consultation. “After my first appointment, I was already excited about donating a kidney,” she says. “But when I learned more about Ron through DOVE, then I knew it was really meant to be.”
Transforming Lives Through Organ Transplants
The Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) offers a comprehensive range of options for patients facing end-stage kidney disease and complications from diabetes. The program’s team performs transplant surgeries for adults and children using both living and deceased donors.
“Transplant surgery is a true team activity,” says RWJUH transplant surgeon Advaith Bongu, MD. “Our team cares for the most complex patients, and everyone who works here is committed to giving patients the best outcomes and the best experience possible.”
The Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program accommodated more than 2,800 patient visits last year and ranks first in New Jersey and second in the Mid-Atlantic Region for the number of pancreas transplants performed.
Additionally, RWJBarnabas Health is home to the largest transplant program in New Jersey, restoring lives through kidney, heart, pancreas and lung transplants. The health system’s unique, multidisciplinary program is:
- The sixth-largest kidney transplant program in the U.S.
- Among the nation’s top 10 for heart transplants
- New Jersey’s only lung transplant program
Learn more about kidney transplants at RWJBarnabas Health or request an appointment.
View full issues of Healthy Together magazine by New Jersey region:
Central, serving the communities of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, New Brunswick and Somerset
South, serving the communities of Community Medical Center in Toms River, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood