Sean and Noel Elliott: Joined By A Kidney and NBA History

San Antonio Spurs | Ken Rodriguez

The famous basketball-playing brother remembers anxiety. The anonymous stock clerk brother remembers awe.

In the thunderous, energy-charged Alamodome, Spurs fans were on their feet, chanting, cheering, screaming the name of an Elliott who'd barely made his high school basketball team. That Elliott looked up into a sea of faces and saw a sign, "We love you, Noel!" Then he saw another and another and the sight and the sound overwhelmed him.

"Wow," Noel thought as the Dome seemed to detonate around him. "This is crazy. Everybody would donate a kidney to their brother, wouldn't they?"

Well, no, not everybody. According to one estimate, 35 percent of potential donors don't donate because family members refuse to give consent. Recovery is painful. There's a risk of complications. Not everyone wants to surrender a major body part.

Then there was Noel, the older brother who was working as a stock clerk and gave a kidney after his honeymoon TO A SIBLING SUFFERING FROM A DISEASE THAT REQUIRED A TRANSPLANT. His gift lifted a franchise, moved a city, and on March 14, 2000, it brought 26,708 strong to their feet.

On the floor, Spurs All-Star forward Sean Elliott blocked out the crowd but struggled to contain nerves. "Just don't embarrass yourself," he kept telling himself.

Sean didn't. He drove by Roshown McLeod of the Atlanta Hawks, went to the rim, raised one hand and dunked. The Alamodome exploded. The first pro athlete in history to come back after a kidney transplant had delivered a moment, and Atlanta's Dikembe Mutombo couldn't help but smile. "I was really touched," Mutombo told reporters after the game.
______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor in California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

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