"We want people to have hope," says Christine Brenner, who donated her kidney to colleague Ruth Duroseau
Credit: Courtesy of Jeffrey Lasky
NEED TO KNOW
- Ruth Duroseau’s first kidney transplant, which she received in 2012, stopped working years later
- After colleagues tried to find out if they could be donors, co-worker Christine Brenner, a nurse, learned she was a match
- “It was just a sense of, ‘Wow. What an amazing person who wanted to do this for me.’ And I was grateful. Very grateful,” Duroseau says
A woman is on the mend and then some following a special gift from her co-worker — a kidney.
Ruth Duroseau, known to friends as Ruthie, returned to work at San Diego’s Sharp Memorial Hospital after taking six months to recover from the transplant, Jeff Lasky, a hospital spokesman, tells PEOPLE.
Duroseau works as a transplant assistant, helping patients get on the list for a new organ. She received her own transplant, her first, in 2012.
Years later, however, the organ stopped working.
"I was feeling very tired, always nauseous, vomiting and having an upset stomach," Duroseau told ABC affiliate KGTV.
Without her knowing, co-workers sought to get tested to see if anyone would be a compatible donor.
That’s when veteran nurse Christine Brenner, who also works on the kidney transplant program, learned the two were a match. Duroseau couldn’t believe the good news.
"It was just a sense of, 'Wow. What an amazing person who wanted to do this for me.' And I was grateful. Very grateful," Duroseau told KGTV.
In December, she received her new kidney with the help of surgeon Dr. Marquis Hart as part of her medical team.
"I would encourage anyone who has a friend or loved one with kidney disease to at least get tested to find out if you are eligible to donate,” says Hart, who has helped perform more than 100 kidney transplants at the hospital each year.
“The process is simple and if you choose to go forward, you could not just save their life but help ensure that you and they have many more happy years together," Hart says.
Duroseau was greeted back at work with a hallway of co-workers chanting her name as she entered the building, KGTV reported.
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At her desk, facing numerous unread emails, Duroseau couldn’t help but be overwhelmed to discover the amount of messages she could now relate to — 2,363 emails to be exact, according to KGTV.
"I understand what they're going through and [I would say] for them not to give up hope. Just keep pushing and keep going. I know it's not easy, but one day at a time and your time will come," Duroseau said of her message to others who need transplants like her.
Brenner took a lighthearted view of her life-changing gift.
"I know she's going to take real good care of 'Lefty.' And we're going to be connected forever! Her sisters all told me I'm part of the family now. And my husband told her that she's part Scandinavian now. 5 percent!!!!" she told KGTV.
Both women agree on this, Brnner said: "We want people to have hope."
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