Woman in need of new kidney gets second chance

Alyssa Anderson, 7, visits her grandmother Sandra Membrino in Hartford Hospital. Story Tools

HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) -- The first blizzard of the year frustrated plenty of people across the country. None more so than Sandra Membrino, a transplant candidate in Connecticut whose lifesaving kidney was stuck on a runway in Detroit.

As Hartford Hospital officials scrambled in vain Monday to find an airport clear of snow in New England, it became obvious the barreling storm would keep the 48-year-old grandmother from receiving her organ.

In transplant surgery, the kidney was the equivalent of a winning lottery ticket -- a six-point perfect match.

Membrino, who has end-stage renal disease, was sent home to Southington and was put back on the donor list. Her last wait was more than two years.

But Tuesday, while in a drive-through line for her morning coffee, her cell phone rang. There was another kidney, and another perfect match.

"This does not happen," said Cathy Ouellette of LifeChoice Donor Services. "For one person to get a perfect match is rare. For one person to get a perfect match twice, it's extremely rare. It never happens."

The first kidney had come from Arizona and was rerouted to California after it couldn't be delivered to Membrino. The second was coming from Nevada. Both were from healthy young men in their 20s.

Membrino spent 12 hours waiting at the hospital for the second kidney. It was supposed to arrive at 4:30 p.m., then at 6:15 p.m.

"I was geared up for a letdown," she said.

But the four-hour surgery got under way at 9 p.m. and went perfectly.

From her hospital bed Wednesday, Membrino said she could already feel her circulation improving. Her hands, which after 16 years of kidney problems had become red, were returning to their normal color.

"This has been a roller coaster for me," she said, tearing up. "I'm lucky that I was even called. There's just so many people who need kidneys."

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