New England Patriots Tom Brady owes a lot of his success to Tom Martinez, the 68-yearold Quarterback coach from California who had mentored No. 12 since he was a boy. So it was no surprise that the star pupil had been trying to help his teacher, who was in failing health, and needed a kidney transplant by asking people through the Internet to go to MatchingDonors.com to be tested to see if they are a potential compatible kidney donor to Tom Martinez. Within a few weeks, over 600 people came forward on MatchingDonors.com to see if they could be a match for Tom Martinez. Many were tested, and a lifesaving kidney transplant was going to potentially happen in a few weeks, but unexpectedly a few days before he could get his transplant, on his birthday, Tom Martinez died of a massive heart attack.
A potential organ donor- Peter Hughes from Sterling, Massachusetts had come forward from Tom Brady’s request to see if he could save the coach’s life – he was going to be tested for Tom Martinez, but Tom Martinez died too soon. Peter has 14 siblings and he works in the child support department for the government. Even though Peter never considered donating a kidney to anyone before Tom Brady’s plea, he knew though it was his destiny to donate a lifesaving kidney to someone. So after the coach died Peter went back on to MatchingDonors.com and found a woman needing a kidney transplant from Massachusetts who he wanted to get tested for. The woman was originally from war torn Bosnia – and has an incredible story about overcoming many major adversities, Peter got tested and was a match for her and now they are going to have their surgery on May 22, 2012 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Peter said “I would have never thought abou t being an organ donor if it hadn’t been for Tom Brady’s plea for his mentor.”
Ajisa will be receiving her lifesaving transplant only six months after being on MatchingDonors.com versus the 7 to ten years she would have had to wait on the government’s deceased donors list.
Peter put in his MatchingDonors.com profile : I am the youngest of 14 siblings and we were always taught by our parents to help out when we can, especially when it comes to someone’s life.
Ajisa put on her MatchingDonors.com profile: I desperately need an O+ or O- kidney, before chronic kidney disease permanently disables me. Please help soon!
Hi My name is Ajisa and I have Chronic Kidney Failure, and I am on the waiting list for a Kidney Transplant at Mass General Hospital Boston MA and JOHNS Hopkins Baltimore MD, for over one year . My insurance is good in any state and I am willing to go to any state. I have a son who had nine brain surgeries and he really needs my help, but I am having a very hard time because I am in and out of the hospital myself. He is so scared to lose me, because he has only me. We lost everyone and everything in four year of war in Bosnia. I would truly appreciate anyone who can help me and at the same time help my son. He would also be very appreciative to anyone who can save my life.
Thank you very much for your help and consideration!
With Love and Hope,
Ajisa Bethiel
“Tom Brady is a great guy and has given us great visibility,” says Paul Dooley, CEO of MatchingDonors.com. See above Brady’s banner that he was putting out on the Internet.
Three weeks before his untimely death Tom Martinez created the www.TomMartinezGoalLineFund.com to help those people needing organ transplants through MatchingDonors.com. Tom said “I’m thrilled that even if I can’t be saved at least the donors and awareness we brought to MatchingDonors.com will save many other lives”.
Nineteen people die every day in the United States waiting for a kidney transplant, most waiting 7 to 9 years. The team at MatchingDonors.com is working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen by finding altruistic living organ donors for people needing kidney transplants. The average patient gets their transplant through MatchingDonors.com within six months of signing up on the website.
Over the past seven years MatchingDonors.com has made historic strides in saving the lives of people needing organ transplants, and increasing living organ donation in the United States. For the work we do at MatchingDonors.com we have won many awards and commendations from Congress and The President of The United States, but we do not currently receive any funds from the government. MatchingDonors.com accomplishments include:
1. MatchingDonors.com is a 501c3 nonprofit.
2. MatchingDonors.com now has the largest living donor registry in the United States, with over 10,757 potential donors registered on the website.
3. MatchingDonors.com is also now the largest living donor paired exchange database in the United States, with over 2,448 potential paired exchange donors registered on the website.
4. MatchingDonors.com now has over 500 patients with active profiles.
5. MatchingDonors.com has an extremely high success rate – most patient members that have been on the site for at least 30 days have been offered an organ by a potential donor.
6. At least 40 of our patient members have upcoming surgery dates with their donors found on MatchingDonors.com.
7. MatchingDonors.com can get over 1.5 million visits in a month.
8. New patients and potential donors sign up almost daily.
9. MatchingDonors.com is recommended and used by many doctors across the United States, including some of the most prestigious transplant surgeons and centers.
Also, recently the MatchingDonors.com team was honored as one of the only two nonprofits of choice by the Hollywood Awards® at the 15th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala in Beverly Hills. MatchingDonors.com was chosen out of 1.5 million other nonprofits in the United States for this prestigious honor.
As of May 10, 2012, there are 114,219 patients waiting for an organ transplant in the United States on the government’s deceased organ donor list. Yet, from January to October 2011, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, www.UNOS.org a non-profit organization contracted with the US Department of Health, there were only 23,749 organ transplants performed in the United States.
Currently, patients waiting for an organ donation are placed on the UNOS national waiting list through the United Network for Organ Sharing. A computer system matches patients to donor organs according to objective criteria such as blood and tissue type, immune status, medical urgency and time spent on the waiting list. This ranking system determines which patients are offered available organs. This process is extremely important in anyone’s organ search, but now MatchingDonors.com offers a way to enhance the search with a more active approach.
MatchingDonors.com main objective is to search the world to find potential live donors for people in need of organ transplants. Patient members of MatchingDonors.com provide a personal biography as well as pictures of their choice to display on the website, which will create an interest in them and their life story. When patients in need of an organ transplant place themselves into MatchingDonors.com database, their information will be promoted on the website. MatchingDonors.com advertises and promotes its Web site in many different ways through extensive public relations networking to increase
potential donors viewing the site.
The personal connection MatchingDonors.com provides is key to finding a potential live donor. According to the National Kidney Foundation, “Nearly one out of four (23.4%) of 1000 people queried told pollsters that they would be “likely” to consider donating a kidney or a portion of their liver or lung to help save the life of someone they did not know.” Many people feel more comfortable considering offering a live donation to someone they may have a connection to or a common bond.
When patients provide their biography and open up personally, the potential for live donors to respond is increased. To help educate people about the option of live organ donation, MatchingDonors.com Web site provides extensive information regarding the safety and types of donations available.
MatchingDonors.com Medical Director, Dr. Jeremiah Lowney, is available for interviews for print, radio and television before and after the surgery. Please contact Doctor Lowney at 781-821-2204 to set up interviews. An NBC TODAY SHOW piece, an ABC News NightLine Story, and New England Journal of Medicine Articles, and hundreds of more news articles and videos about MatchingDonors.com can be found at MatchingDonors.com.
MatchingDonors.com is not an organ donor waiting list, and is not associated with any organ donor organization. It is a nonprofit venue where patients and potential donors can communicate and hopefully expedite a live donor agreeing to give a much-needed organ. MatchingDonors.com gives patients and potential donors the important communication tools to correspond with each other, but once the contact between the parties has been made, the road to transplant surgery is their own.
Based in Canton, Massachusetts, MatchingDonors.com is a nonprofit corporation with people based throughout the United States. Anyone interested in donating money to support MatchingDonors.com services can do so by calling MatchingDonors.com at 781-821-2204.
