The Kidney Story

I got a phone call from a guy who I haven’t heard from in forever and he goes “I think you delivered a kidney to my friend”. I had no idea if that was true and no idea to find out, but was positive that it was Airspace after our chat.

He said that the guy had a severe and acute onset of health issues that stemmed from a heart attack. Btw, this person was my age so it felt uncomfortably relatable. He was put on the transplant list and found a match from a stranger in another city which would require the kidney to be transported via air. Most people picture the life flight helicopter when I tell them this, but the reality is that many transplants travel on commercial airlines in specialized containers. For anyone who has flown on an airplane, thinking about an organ traveling via the same system that loses bags and is at the mercy of mother nature is a very uncomfortable thought!

I cannot imagine what goes through someone’s mind when they are waiting for an organ that will save their life. I cannot imagine the silence and discomfort they must feel knowing that the organ is being removed and then is being placed in the carrier and then is hopefully moving from person to person in a life saving supply chain. Can you even imagine?

Luckily, this person had a completely different experience. “I just kept staring at the map on my phone watching it get closer and closer until they came to get me”. That quote will always stick with me. I knew people wanted a feature like that, but even when we were making it, I don’t think we really knew what it would feel like to someone who desperately wanted that information when it mattered most to them.