Kidney donor found: Firman passes mom note at work to share news on ‘best day ever’

“She says, ‘I’ve got some information for you. Someone stepped up and it’s going to be a live, living kidney donor to you,’” Ryan said. “And I just kind of said, ‘Are you serious?’ She goes, ‘Yeah, I’m serious.’ And I’m like, ‘No, are you serious?’”

She was serious.

Perhaps it was Firman’s inability to speak that led to what happened next.

He passed a note to a co-worker, his mother, Susan.

“I wrote that information down on a card wrapped in a piece of paper and I kind of gave it to her as I was walking by and I turned around after a few steps and she was just standing there crying and she told my dad immediate family,” Firman said.

Susan recalls the potentially life-saving moment.

“I went running to find him,” she said. “And yeah, tears were flowing.”

Added Ryan: “And then I was able to phone my girlfriend and tell her what was happening. And then she was crying. It was like the best day ever – like, best day ever.”

Firman was diagnosed with kidney disease when he was a teenager.

When he spoke to CFJC Today in March, he said his kidney function was marked at about 12 or 13 per cent.

That number has since dipped to about nine per cent and he has been on dialysis three times per week since March.

The call from VGH on May 29 came 88 days after family friend Lianna Jansen created a Facebook page – Ryan Firman Find a Living Kidney Donor – and 89 days after Susan first posted on social media about her son’s plight.

Response has been overwhelming.

“It was absolutely huge,” Susan said. “I couldn’t believe the number of people that kept sharing his message … a lot of people either emailing, texting or private messaging me on Facebook asking about the process [and] a few people letting me know, hey, I’m going to go get tested. So that was just absolutely amazing to think that somebody would help us because, unfortunately, I wasn’t a match. My husband wasn’t a match. And that was the only thing we could do was to put it out there and hope like heck that someone would help us.”

The Firmans are proceeding with cautious optimism, hoping to secure a surgery date some time in the next two or three months.

“There’s a lot that has to go right for this to go right,” Ryan said. “If I get sick, antibodies could change and then the blood work no longer matches up and vice-versa for the donor. If they somehow get sick, blood work could change slightly, just enough for the transplant to change. The donor could back out and say, actually, you know what, I don’t think I can do this anymore. And then we’re back to square one.”

The donor has chosen to remain anonymous.

“Oh, a million thank yous,” Susan said when asked what she would say to the donor. “Biggest hug ever. They’ve given Ryan a new lease on life. For the last nine years, he’s been struggling with this and the last year or so has been where it’s really gone downhill. I would say if Ryan’s not moving, he is sleeping.”

Added Ryan: “It’s a crazy thing. It’s something I think about all the time. I hope one day I’ll be able to shake their hand and thank them for giving me another chance at life. If they’re out there listening to this or watching, it’s changed my life and my family’s life for sure.”

by Marty Hastings

Kidney donor found: Firman passes mom note at work to share news on ‘best day ever’

Our Community