I Hear Voices
By Race Smith
Race Smith always knew when to help a neighbor, a stranger, a coworker. So when his stepfather couldn’t donate a kidney to save his own brother, Race listened to the same voice that had guided him for forty years — and gave a kidney to a man he had never met.
Part One - The Voice
People ask me, “What made you decide to donate a kidney?” Where do I start? This adventure started long before the first blood test, long before I even considered organ donation, actually. This started almost 40 years ago, when I was in my 20s, when I accepted Christ as my Savior.
I have always been a courteous, giving person, and I’ve been blessed with different ways to give. I have a background in a wide variety of mechanical crafts, so I’ve used those skills to help repair heaters, and cars, and buildings, and church busses, and a lot of other things. I’ve often said, “I’ve fixed everything from sewing machines to Jet Dragsters to locomotives,” and I have. Sometimes I even got paid for it, but many times I didn’t. Nor did I expect to. I offered the help.
Those skills provided me with jobs that paid enough. Sometimes just enough to get by, and sometimes more. But always enough to share a little here and there with those in need. It might be a good tip for a server or the pizza guy. Or it might be a tank of gas for a stranger that was a little short on cash, but still needed to get to work. I never know when the urge to help will hit me. When that little voice in my head will speak up and say “help them” or “be generous”.
I know some people don’t have that voice in their head. I have two. One is my voice. It’s my inner dialogue, my narrator that tells me things like, “Remember that is hot and don’t put your hand there,” or “Hey, look! A Ferrari!” and every time I see a rabbit, it says, “Bunny!” Then there’s the other voice, the one that says, “Help that neighbor with their car.” or “Give a good tip to this person.” I never know when that voice is going to speak up, or what it’ll tell me.
There have been a couple times I haven’t listened to that voice when it tried to warn me. Those times resulted in disaster. One of those times the voice said, “Get out of the car.” and I didn’t listen. I crashed that car after it had a mechanical failure. Another time it said, “Bring that fire extinguisher with you,” and I argued with it. I didn’t bring that extinguisher, and just a few hours later, I watched a friend get burned after crashing that Jet Dragster I mentioned earlier. He survived, but I could have had the fire out a lot sooner than the safety crew, and maybe he could have kept his nose.
“I know some people don’t have that voice in their head. I have two.”
So now, I listen and comply. About six years ago, a coworker needed a kidney, and I prayed for him and his family. And the voice spoke up and said, “Offer.” So I went to him and offered to get tested. He assured me that he had a donor, and it was covered. I told him if anything changed to let me know. He’s been back to work for several years now and is doing great. The seed had been planted; it just needed time to grow.
Part Two - The Surgery And The Reason Why
I didn’t think about kidney donation for a couple years. Then one day, while talking to my mom on the phone, the subject came up again. She told me that Dave, her husband, just found out his blood sugar was too high so he couldn’t donate a kidney to his brother, Gary. I had never met Gary. I didn’t even know there was a Gary, but I immediately said, “I’ll do it.” Followed by, “I’m probably not a match, but they have a program called Paired Donation that we could use.”
A paired donation is where one person donates “for” someone, rather than “to” someone. Because I offered to donate for Gary, he would get on the list for a kidney . . . if I passed the test, and they test a lot of different things. I made a few overnight trips to the Miami Transplant Institute to get poked and prodded and tested and inspected. At 59 years old, I had to run on a treadmill until my heart rate was higher than it had been in 20 years! Then I immediately got to do it again because the first machine malfunctioned and didn’t record the images they took. Good times. Through all this testing I found out two things about myself. One, that I’m very healthy, and two, that I don’t like treadmills.
After countless vials of blood and a few scans here and there, we finally had a surgery date, February 12th. My wife and I packed our bags for a two-week trip to South Florida, minus the fun. There would be no lazy days at the beach for us. My surgery was in the morning and Gary’s was that evening. I never officially met my recipient before surgery. They took my kidney out and walked it to the next room and installed it while it was still warm. Gary’s new kidney had to catch a plane into Miami from Indiana. I was discharged the next day, and Gary went home a few days later.
“I’ll admit that I was nervous about the surgery, but it was such a tremendous blessing— in more ways than one.” ~ Tammy Smith
We stayed with Gary and his wife. I still don’t know why they wanted two men recovering from surgery in the house at the same time, but we managed. Initial recovery was not pleasant. My energy dropped off quickly from the loss of a kidney. Meanwhile, Gary perked up in a hurry. It was good to see him do that. It helped me get through it. I knew I had done the right thing. My wife and I went to a church service at Gary’s church. Everyone came to thank me for helping him. They told stories of Gary and what a good man he is. Again, I knew I did the right thing.
Another question I get is, “Did it hurt?” Yes. Yes it did, but it wasn’t unbearable. I joke that it hurt bad enough that I’ll never do it again, but not so bad that I regret it. It took a couple months to get my energy back. It took a little longer to feel normal. At this writing, it’s been just shy of four months since the surgery. I’ve been back to work for two months. The two months I had off were covered by my short-term disability insurance. There are also plans that assisted greatly with lost wages and travel costs. My experience with them was amazing. They made up 100% of my lost wages. Paired Donation won’t be a financial burden, if you go down that path. I hope you do look into it. We lose too many good people due to lack of donors.
So how does this tie into me coming to Christ? Well, I’ve learned that the voice that isn’t mine is the Holy Spirit. I firmly believe that. God guides us through life and puts us in the path of others, or puts others in our path, so that we can fulfill His plan. Listen to your inner voice and make positive impacts on friends, neighbors, your mom’s brother-in-law, or even complete strangers. It’s His plan; help execute it.
“It hurt bad enough that I’ll never do it again, but not so bad that I regret it.”
What Is Paired Donation?
A willing donor who isn’t a match for their own loved one instead gives a kidney to a stranger who is a match. In exchange, their loved one moves up the list to receive a kidney through the same chain. It’s how Race—without ever being a match for Gary—was still able to help save his life.
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