New lease on life begins with an act of humanity


Des Moines Register | Sharyn Jackson
Peter March and his wife, Nerissa, were visiting Disney World with nieces and nephews in mid-2010 when Nerissa’s kidney failed.

“It gets hot, there’s a lot of crowds, and Nerissa would get tired, and eventually her energy level just went down,” March said.

It was the second time in Nerissa’s life that had happened. Sixteen years earlier, she was the recipient of a kidney transplant, and the organ’s course had run out.

March knew then that he wanted to donate a kidney to his wife, but the couple was considered an “incompatible pair” because Peter and Nerissa had different blood types.

On Tuesday, the Omaha couple went under the knife at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines as part of a five-pair chain of donors and recipients â€" the longest kidney transplant chain ever to take place in Iowa. Peter donated his kidney to a stranger, and Nerissa received one from another stranger.

In three days, 10 operations gave five people who needed a kidney a new lease on life.

Kidney donors and recipients meet for the first time Friday at Mercy Medical Center 

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