Thankful for life: Lehighton grad donates kidney to her friend

And she did it.

On Oct. 25, Fraser donated one of her kidneys to Elizabeth Finneran and literally saved her friend’s life.

A chance meeting

Finneran, from Watertown, Connecticut, played basketball for four years at Lock Haven University before graduating in 2011. Fraser played rugby at LHU and graduated in 2014. They came together one night at a rugby alumni dinner which Finneran attended because of her friendships with several former rugby players.

“Anyone will immediately take notice of Finn when she walks into a room of people because she’s 6 foot 3 and has bright red hair,” said Fraser. “And then she’s extremely outgoing and friendly, so it was easy for me to begin a friendship with her that night.”

While at LHU, Fraser, who played soccer at Lehighton, became friends with Finneran’s basketball coach, Jennifer Smith. Finneran also developed a close friendship with Smith and often visited her home to see her coach’s two children. Relationships were set in place, but no one knew how lifesaving they would become.

Emergency room visit

After noticing bruises on both of her legs last May, Finneran went to her doctor, who found her blood pressure to be extremely high and ordered blood tests.

“It was May 9 when my doctor told me to go quickly to the hospital emergency room in Danbury,” Finneran said. “My blood work showed that both my kidneys were working at less than 15 percent, and I was at end-stage renal disease.”

At 28 years old and with no family history of diabetes or cause for this life-threatening illness, Finneran was immediately placed on dialysis to remove toxins from her blood that her kidneys could no longer do.

She was told a kidney transplant was necessary for her to resume a normal life.

“For three times a week, for 14 weeks and for nearly four hours each time, I had to have dialysis,” she said. I could work only 20 hours a week. I was in bed by 7:30 every night, even on days I didn’t have the procedure. All I did was cry thinking I’d have to be on dialysis for the rest of my life.”

Birthday girls

When the news broke, there was no shortage of family and friends who lined up as potential kidney donors.

There were no matches, and then doctors would determine if Fraser’s kidney would qualify for the transplant.

“Finn was transferred to Yale Hospital in New Haven while I was scheduled to be interviewed and tested right on my birthday. They discovered I was very healthy and I was a perfect match to donate my kidney.”

“Finn is the ultimate friend, teammate, daughter, sister and person,” said Coach Smith.

“When she was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure, I actually was not extremely worried because I knew that someone would donate a kidney to her because she is loved by so many people.

“When I was informed that Jourdan was a match and was beyond willing to give Finn her kidney, I was not the least surprised. Jourdan is one of the most selfless people I have met. She is the person who will give you the shirt off of her back, or her kidney,” said Smith with a smile.

“The Haven experience changes your life. You meet people that affect you so deeply that they stay in your life forever. They are not college friends, they are life friends.”

The day before the transplant surgery, Fraser, who was employed at Bucknell University as an athletics technical coordinator, drove five hours to Watertown and spent the night with Finneran and her family.

“They had to educate me about what my life would be after I donated one of my kidneys to Finn,” said Fraser. “There would really be no life-altering issues except I would need to use Tylenol for any pain event I might have and be checked every once in a while to see that my other kidney was functioning properly.”

On Oct. 25, which happened to be Finneran’s birthday, both surgeries were performed.

“My procedure went fine,” said Fraser. “It started at 5:30 in the morning and it took about three and a half hours. They had me up and walking 20 minutes later.”

Her kidney was rushed to another operating room where Finneran was being prepped to receive a new lease on life from her friend.

“My surgery was about six hours,” she said. “And when I woke up in the recovery room, there was Jourdan standing right next to me.”

“I didn’t know what to say,” said Fraser, “so I just said, ‘Hi.’”

Tears and hugs were followed by big smiles from both women. Finneran’s new kidney began to work immediately and there were no post-op problems.

Friendship filled with gratitude

“I was so happy I could give my kidney to Finn, “ said Fraser. “She’s such a wonderful person. On your worst day she just knows what to say to make you feel better.”

“My doctor told me that without dialysis, I would have died within a week if I didn’t get a kidney donor,” said Finneran. “I had so many people praying for me and for Jourdan to be a perfect match and do what she did for me, I can’t put into words how grateful I am.”

Three weeks have now passed and Finneran is doing fine. She expects to resume her active lifestyle, which includes hiking and traveling in about a week. Fraser stays busy with coordinating video productions of sports events at Bucknell University. Of course they will visit each other as often as possible.

Jourdan Fraser and Elizabeth Finneran, two friends who are held together forever by love and by life, will have an extra special reason to be thankful on this Thanksgiving Day.