Burlington woman donates kidney to near stranger, so friend would not know pain of losing her father

By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune Contributor

Samantha Denton of Burlington barely knew Doug Ransdell, but that didn’t stop her from making an enormous sacrifice to help save his life.

Ransdell, who lives in Couer D’Alene, Idaho, was suffering from polycystic kidney disease, an inherited disorder in which clusters of cysts develop within the kidneys, causing them to fail.

Ransdell is the father of Denton’s best friend, Lindsey Parece, but he moved from Boone County to Idaho before the girls met 13 years ago. Denton met Ransdell briefly at Parece’s college graduation, but aside from that, knew him only through her friend.

When Denton, 34, found out Ransdell needed a kidney, however, she didn’t hesitate to give up one of hers.

“Honestly, I really didn’t have second thoughts,” Denton said. “My life has been saved in more ways than one, so I just wanted to pay it forward.”

Parece, 30, said she was really just looking for emotional support when she told Denton of her father’s plight. She never expected her friend to make such a generous offer.

“He was sick and going to need a kidney transplant from a living donor,” Parece said.

“I never asked. It was more of a conversation and she just said ‘I’ll do it.’”

Ransdell, 54, also has a heart condition known as aortic dissection, a condition in which the inner layer of the aorta, the large blood vessel branching off the heart, tears. A common complication of polycystic kidney disease is high blood pressure, which contributed to the heart condition.

Because of the condition, Ransdell needed both a transplant doctor and a heart surgeon on hand, making it almost impossible to schedule the procedure using an organ from a deceased donor.

In fact, doctors initially told him that because of the aorta issue he was an extremely high risk and not a transplant candidate.

“I was diagnosed with the (kidney) condition in July 2011 but doctors said there was nothing to do because of dissection,” Ransdell said, speaking by phone from his home in Idaho. “I was stable enough and as time went by we found a vascular surgeon in Spokane, Washington who had a way to hook it up and modify the artery so I decided to do it.”

The next step was to find a donor.

Polycystic kidney disease is hereditary, so neither Parece nor her brother could donate the organ. A stepsister initially offered to donate a kidney, but she was not a suitable donor either.

Denton said when Parece told her how much Ransdell’s condition had deteriorated, she couldn’t say no.

“My father passed away 13 years ago and I know how that feels,” Denton said. “I still miss him every day and I didn’t want her to go through that.”

Even after Denton volunteered, there was no guarantee the transplant could take place. Her universal blood type of O Positive improved the chances, but it was still a long shot and she was the only option.

“They sent me a box first which was just cross-matching to make sure I was even a match,” Denton said. “Then I had to do it twice to make sure the cross-match was perfect and on Christmas Eve of 2013 they called and said I was a match.”

Denton had no reservations about the procedure, but other family members were less enthusiastic.

Her mother, Sherry Stevens-Odegaard was astounded when Denton told her.

“I have to be totally honest, when she told me I was totally against it,” Stevens-Odegaard said. “Samantha has always been someone who would help anyone or open her home to anyone, but this was a little different. I didn’t want her to do it and be that far away from me.”

Stevens-Odegaard knew her strong-willed daughter was determined and the realization that she was giving someone his life back allowed her to come to grips with the decision.

Denton flew to Spokane in March 2014 to have additional blood work and other testing completed for final confirmation.

Initially, the procedure was scheduled for April, but doctors wanted to make sure Ransdell’s heart procedure went smoothly, so the transplant was moved to August.

On August 2, Denton and Parece boarded a plane for Spokane. Denton’s sister, Kimberly McNabb and her husband went along for moral support.

The transplant took place three days later at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane and Parece said she wasn’t too worried about Denton because doctors had done a good job of reassuring her.

“I pretty much knew she was going to be fine. I was more worried about my dad because of his aortic dissection, but he was perfect the day after.” Parece said. “It was amazing just to talk to him and realize he was healthy for the first time in a long time.”

Ransdell said his deterioration of health was so gradual, even he didn’t realize how sick he had become until just before the procedure.

“My friends were telling me I was really sick and I wasn’t believing it,” Ransdell said. “About a month before I had spells of convulsions and fainting spells and I finally resolved that I was drastically ill.”

He said the procedure and the difference it has made in his life have changed his opinion about doctors and medicine.

“I was an old school farm boy in Boone County and if we got hurt we would just put some tape on and spit some Copenhagen because we ain’t going to the doctor,” Ransdell said. “My faith in medicine has changed by leaps and bounds. It’s not your regular oil change and it’s not foolproof, but it is amazing.”

It was actually Samantha who experienced a bit of a hitch in her recovery. After being released from the hospital, she started having severe breathing problems in her hotel room.

“I had a check-up and they found a tiny blood clot and they put me on blood thinners, so I couldn’t come home right away.”

Fortunately the clot cleared and she was able to return home a few days later. She also experienced a bout of pneumonia shortly after returning home but has rebounded from that as well. She has returned to her job as a research assistant at a medical facility in Cincinnati.

“I feel great,” Denton said. “I get my blood drawn every month. I’m flying back out on February 22, for my six-month check-up.

Denton has two sons, Dylan Battista, 17, a senior at Cooper High School and Xavier Denton, 9, a Burlington Elementary third grader. She said she thought about the risk involved and what it might mean for them if something went wrong, but she also knew she was sending them a strong message about the importance of helping others.

Dylan Battista said he is proud of his mother, but admits he was worried as well.

“At first I was kind of scared, but it all worked out so it was a good thing,” he said.

Ransdell will have to take anti-rejection medication for the rest of his life, but the prognosis is good. He said he has a hard time putting into words how he feels about Samantha and what she did for him.

“What she did is an unbelievable act of unsolicited kindness and I truly believe it is God’s hand at work,” Ransdell said.

Denton knows she only has one kidney now and has put herself at greater risk because she is still very young. She takes comfort in the fact that, as a living donor, she would be placed at the top of the list if she ever needed a transplant.

She is more concerned that her friend Parece has the same condition and could potentially need a transplant someday as well.

“I don’t know what I would do then,” Denton said. “I don’t have any more spare parts.”