Donate a kidney, save two lives

Re “My kidney for a stranger,” June 13

Thank you for the op-ed article about Dr. Terry Wood’s decision to be a kidney donor.

I was part of the first kidney chain on the west coast, which went through UCLA more than eight years ago. I was not a match for my wife, but with the kidney chain it made me realize that if I was willing to give a to my loved one, why wouldn’t I be willing to give it to someone else’s loved one? In return, my wife would get a kidney from someone else’s loved one that would save her life.

It’s a win-win situation. Actually, being a donor on the kidney chain, you save two lives — your loved one and someone else’s.

Altruistic donors who start these kidney chains are very special. Because of them, many, many lives are saved.

I know my wife and the man who received my kidney now have wonderful lives they could not have imagined years ago while being on dialysis. Steve Shaevel Woodland Hills