If you're still thinking about what you're going to get your dad for Father's Day, chances are you're not going to top Bernita Reese's gift. She donated a kidney for her father, Stewart.
Even if it's only watching basketball highlights on TV, Reese loves spending time with her father. Her fondest childhood memories involve the rare times her dad, then a busy pastor, would take her and her four siblings on special trips.
"We thought we were going somewhere big and he took us to Anniston, Alabama to a little motel, but it was the highlight of my life. That was a good vacation for us because it was just our time with him alone," said Bernita Reese.
But it was a trip to the doctor that changed both of their lives. Bernita asked to tag along with her dad to his visit.
"I didn't think anything of it, because we're a close family. All of us are very close and I thought she was just concerned about me as her daddy," said Bishop Stewart Reese, Jr.
During the visit, they were given the news Stewart Reese's kidneys were failing.
"Wow, this is serious. This is a life or death situation. And if there's anything I can do to help him out I said I'll do whatever I can," said Bernita Reese.
There were only two options. Either he would have to go on dialysis or he would need a kidney transplant. If he were to go on a waiting list, it could have been a three to five year wait. Bernita Reese didn't hesitate to offer one of hers. But was she a match?
About two or three days later, she went and found out she was a perfect match.
The transplant went off without a hitch in May. Both Stewart and Bernita are doing fine and back to basketball talk. With the new kidney, Stewart gets a chance to spend more time with his family.
"For her to open up her body and give me one of her kidneys, to me this is like giving life to somebody," said Stewart Reese.
Stewart is getting better by the day and remains active at church. As of March of 2012, there were 91,000 people awaiting kidney transplants.
Thursday, May 23 2013 10:09 AM EDT2013-05-23 14:09:40 GMT
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Bernita Reese
