It can take a long time to find someone who can donate an organ. It is difficult to find a suitable donor, even among family and close friends. However, as per Nissan Stories, an employee who had kidney failure found a matching donor at their workplace. To make it even more amazing, the donor happened to be his best friend.
In 2017, Josh Bredeson, a technician at Landers McClarty Nissan in Huntsville, Alabama, thought he had the flu. However, during a visit to urgent care, he found out that he was suffering from kidney failure, even at his young age of 39. Even though he was diagnosed with a condition, he won the American part of the 2018 Nissan International Service Technical Excellence Contest (NISTEC), which made him the best dealer technician in the country. As a result of this achievement, Bredeson was promoted in 2021 and currently works at the Nissan Smyrna Manufacturing Plant's dealer technical support center located in nearby Smyrna, Tennessee.
Coincidentally, Bredeson's good friend Josh Shaffer works as a data analyst at the Smyrna plant. This plant once produced the 720 pickup and now builds the popular Rogue and Pathfinder. Shaffer took on this role soon after Bredeson was promoted.
Bredeson's condition continued to worsen despite having a less physically taxing desk job, which he received after working as a dealer tech. By March 2022, his kidneys were only functioning at 20%, and he was put on the transplant list. Eight close friends and family members voluntarily submitted their blood samples within the first month to check if they could be a suitable match for him.
One of those people was Shaffer, who became a candidate to donate their kidney. Shaffer and other potential donors went through a series of tests at the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, which evaluated their suitability for kidney donation to Bredeson, including ultrasounds, X-rays, a CT scan, an EKG, and a four-hour blood test. After three months, the evaluation process was finished, and Shaffer was determined to be the best match to donate their kidney. Shaffer accepted the opportunity to donate their kidney without hesitation.
The two arrived to the Vanderbilt Medical Center on January 4, 2023, for the life-saving surgery. Shaffer went first so that one of his kidneys could be removed and prepped, with Bredeson following for the organ transplant two hours later. Both operations went well, and two days after the surgery, Shaffer went home. Bredeson followed suit a day later.
The surgery was successful. At six months, a significant milestone for both the donor and recipient, Shaffer was recovering well with no signs of rejection or damage to Bredeson's kidney function, which had improved to 70%. They are using their experience to raise awareness about the estimated 37 million Americans with kidney disease, of which 90% may not be aware they have the disease.
"Hopefully, this is a story for somebody who may be suffering but doesn't know why," Bredeson said. "Maybe this will inspire somebody to get checked or to become a donor."
Source: Nissan