There was a suggestion Friday that Jeff Skidmore might try buying some Powerball tickets more often, since he’s proven that he can beat the odds.
In a major gamble, Skidmore already has cashed in one of the biggest prizes of all, the gift of life.
He received a desperately needed kidney in a transplant operation Dec. 2, getting an organ from a living donor whose identity was kept a secret from him until a dramatic “reveal event” a week before his surgery.
Turn the time back to mid-2015: With his kidneys worsening and relying on frequent dialysis, Skidmore took to social media in a quest for someone, anyone, who would be willing and compatible to be a kidney donor.
Who thought it would come down to an old friend who resurfaced at Skidmore’s monthly karaoke night gig at the American Legion Post 141, someone who would beat the steep odds against being a match for a kidney transplant?
Brooke Bissell hardly gave it a second thought when she saw Skidmore’s plea. She promptly answered a questionnaire, went to Pittsburgh for physical testing and was declared a match for Skidmore.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I knew I could save a life and I didn’t,” Bissell said. “And I think it’s kind of hypocritical to say you’re an organ donor, but say you can’t have my organs until I’m dead.”
Indiana actually was the incubator for this match-up, this meeting of one who needs and one who has.
Skidmore, 39, is nearly a lifelong resident of Cambria County, and lives in Ebensburg, almost 30 miles east of Indiana on Route 422.
Bissell, 37, originally from Johnstown, now calls Armstrong County her home, and lives in Kittanning, almost 30 miles west on Route 422.
Their friendship began about 15 or 16 years ago when Skidmore deejayed at Boomerang’s bar in downtown Indiana and Bissell, an Indiana University of Pennsylvania graduate student, was a regular patron. Their acquaintance lasted not much longer than Bissell’s time at IUP, but they reconnected a few years ago on Facebook, and renewed their conversations around the time Skidmore applied for the kidney transplant list.
His health was never something they chatted a lot about. Skidmore said he went public when he was approved for the list, posted his information and waited.
“A lot of people got information and I remember she asked me for the info, so I sent her one of the little booklets,” Skidmore said. “Beyond that I don’t know what anybody did with my information or who made any calls.”
Skidmore said the people at the Starzl Transplant Institute at UPMC-Montefiore in Pittsburgh reported back that about 50 people phoned them to say they were interested, and 10 were called in for testing.
In June, UPMC told Skidmore that one of those 10 was a match.
“To find a living donor that is not family, they say, is 1 in 150,000 and I got 1 in 10. In my opinion, that’s just a miracle,” Skidmore said. “And for that to be someone you know, someone who is a friend — that’s just mind-blowing.”
A transplant coordinator handled private messages between Bissell and Skidmore and helped them set a date for the dual operation. Skidmore said. Bissell’s name was never given to him.
The mystery of the unknown kidney donor was as tantalizing for Skidmore’s friends and the folks who enjoy his “DJ Skiddy” entertainment service in the region. As the transplant date neared, members at the American Legion — an “everybody knows your name” kind of place — gathered at karaoke night Nov. 25 to wish good luck to “Skiddy” for his surgery and recovery.
Following other well-wishers, Bissell grabbed the mic and broke the news to Skidmore and the entire room: “I found out that I am his match, and you are going to get my kidney!”
Someone with a hint of what was happening recorded the emotional moments on video and circulated it on social media.
Bissell’s news stayed a virtual secret until she made that announcement, but she leaked it earlier in the evening when Post Commander Wesley Wertz came around collecting money to help Skidmore with his expenses.
“Would you like to donate anything?” Wertz asked her.
“I’m donating my kidney,” Bissell told him.
Wertz said Friday it was all he could do to keep that to himself for another hour.
Both Skidmore and Bissell said Friday they are recovering as expected. Doctors told Bissell she would need more time than Skidmore to get back to normal.
“It’s a rough recovery,” she said. “It’s harder on the donor than the recipient. The recipient has a new healthy body part, but the donor’s body has to figure out that it’s missing an organ and needs to adjust to that.”
By now, both are pretty much back to their game. On Feb. 14, about 10 weeks after giving a kidney, Bissell ran in the “Cupid’s Undies Run” fundraiser to fight neurofibromatosis.
And Friday, karaoke singers at the Legion talked about how “Skiddy” has more color in his face, and laughed at his chatter between bringing singers up to the mic.
“Someone asked me tonight if I have to sit to pee now,” Skidmore told the crowd. “Actually, sometimes I do!”
It’s different for their follow-up care. Doctors meet with Skidmore every week to monitor his progress and watch for signs of rejection. He said he takes more than 40 pills a day.
Meanwhile, Bissell has doctor visits set for six months, a year and then two years before she expects to be released from care.
And on Friday, Bissell “pinned” Skidmore in honor of their unique bond: Both now wear matching halves of a lapel pin, Skidmore’s with the slogan “I received the gift of life” and Bissell’s saying “I gave the gift of life.” Bissell said donor/recipient pinning is a tradition followed by many living organ donors and their recipients.
“I probably wouldn’t do it for a complete stranger, but I would do it for my family and friends,” Bissell said. “I’ve always been a caring person and I try to put others before me. I wish more people were like me.”
Skidmore said he has made it his mission to publicize organ donation and to encourage people to declare themselves donors on their driver’s license.
Folks also can get screened and have their information logged in donor organ network databases for comparison to future transplant candidates, he said.
“I was on the list 21 months and there are still 150,000 on the waiting lists. That’s just through UPMC,” Skidmore said. “The numbers are staggering. There are 300,000 people on dialysis.
“I’m one of the lucky ones that got through it,” he said.
People who need transplants or want to offer to be donors can visit www.matchingdonors.com to register and read success stories of donor-recipient matches the site has arranged — the kind of triumph that can be more valuable than any lottery prize.
PHOTO: Brooke Bissell placed a commemorative pin on the collar of Jeffrey Skidmore, a tradition after an organ donation. (Kevin G. Stiffler/Gazette)
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