Historic eight-person kidney transplant at Yale Stamford man among recipients in kidney transplant exchange

Dr. Peter Schulam, at podium, welcomes the 8 patients who participated in the press conference at Yale-New Haven Hospital on Thursday, March 12, 2015 to celebrate the paired kidney transplant exchange, a medical first in Connecticut. The eight surgeries took place on March 3, 2015. less Dr. Peter Schulam, at podium, welcomes the 8 patients who participated in the press conference at Yale-New Haven Hospital on Thursday, March 12, 2015 to celebrate the paired kidney transplant exchange, a ... more Photo: Kelly Jensen, Contributed Photo Photo: Kelly Jensen, Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Historic eight-person kidney transplant at Yale 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN -- For two years, David Rennie's life was essentially on hold.

Kidney problems required the 54-year-old Shelton man to undergo regular home-dialysis treatments. While it helped keep him alive, it also kept him from doing much else, he said.

"You're kind of a prisoner to that (dialysis) machine," he said. "I went on a couple of vacation trips, but I had to bring the machine with me."

Because of his condition, brought on by diabetes and high blood pressure, Rennie knew he'd need a transplant. He was supposed to have the surgery in December, with his wife, Margaret, as donor, but found out not long before the procedure that she was not a good match.

Things seemed bleak until the couple was asked to participate in a historic eight-patient kidney transplant that took place March 3 at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

David received a kidney from donor Patricia Menno-Coveney, of Mystic. Menno-Coveney was what's known as an altruistic donor -- a living person who volunteers to donate an organ or organs to anyone who needs them.

Margaret Rennie, meanwhile, donated a kidney to another patient, Raymond Murphy, of Old Saybrook. Sylvie Murphy, Raymond's wife, donated a kidney to Mario Garcia, from New Haven, and Mario's wife, Hilary Grant, donated a kidney to Edward Brakoniecki, of Stamford.

The surgeries began on a staggered schedule, which started at 7:30 a.m. and ended when the final kidney was transplanted just before 6 p.m. that day.

More Information Kidney donation facts

According to Yale-New Haven Hospital, there were 123,175 people waiting for organ transplants in the United States as of Sept. 8, 2014. Of these, 101,170 were awaiting kidney transplants.

In 2013, the last full year for which data was available, 16,896 kidney transplants took place in the U.S. Of these, 11,163 involved deceased donors and 5,733 came from living donors.

This chain surgery marked the first time that a kidney transplant exchange of this magnitude has ever occurred on one day at a single hospital in Connecticut, according to hospital sources.

All the donors and recipients were at Yale-New Haven on Thursday to discuss the procedure, including David Rennie, who said it was life-changing.

"I'm still in some discomfort, but it's only been a week," he said. "But I'm definitely stronger than I was before the surgery."

Yale's transplant team set up this complex arrangement using a computer program that allows incompatible would-be donor-recipient pairs, like the Rennies, with people who might be a match.

"Sometimes you have couples who aren't compatible with one another," but are compatible, in some combination, with other couples, said Dr. Peter Schulam, chief of urology at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Brakoniecki and Menno-Coveney were the only people in the chain who weren't part of a pair. Prior to receiving his new kidney, Brakoniecki had been doing dialysis three times a week for five years, balancing his health care schedule with his job in maintenance at Villa Maria School.

His kidneys had progressively gotten worse over the past half decade, and he badly needed a transplant. When Brakoniecki received the call inviting him to be part of the chain transplant, it seemed a miracle.

"The coordinating nurse called me and asked if I was interested," he said. "I said 'Of course!' I was never hoping I'd get a live donor. I thought I might get one that was deceased."

Already, Brakoniecki said, his quality of life has improved dramatically.

"One thing I don't have to do is go on dialysis anymore," he said. "With the new kidney, I'm getting better and better."