Donation ties Punta Gorda women together as ‘kidney sisters’

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. They’re “kidney sisters” for life.

That’s what two Punta Gorda women are calling themselves four weeks after one of them received a kidney transplant from the other.

“Even the surgeons said it’s probably the most perfect match they’ve ever seen,” said Tracie Juiliano, whose donation spared neighbor Kiki Bernard from dialysis. “My kidney started working in her body within an hour and they said it was just amazing.”

Bernard was born with polycystic kidneys, a hereditary condition. Juiliano knew that, but it wasn’t until recently that she realized how dire the situation was.

Bernard was asymptomatic for most of her life. But her kidneys began to decline rapidly, and a doctor told her it would be only a year to 18 months before she went on dialysis.

She knew she needed a new kidney. But finding one wasn’t simple, especially given her reluctance to ask for help.

“It’s hard to go up to someone and say I need a kidney,” she said. “… But unless you do that you’re not gonna find someone who wants to donate.”

It didn’t take quite that sort of direct solicitation. But it did take some ingenuity from Bernard’s husband and a little social media magic.

Wayne Bernard put a sign in front of a restaurant the couple owns near their other home in Massachusetts.

“She wouldn’t let me do it, so I waited until she wasn’t around and I did it half-humorously, half-seriously, and it had quite a response,” Bernard said.

 

It wasn’t until he posted a picture of the sign to Facebook that Juiliano learned about the need.

“Everybody down here, all her friends down here, went and got tested,” Juiliano said.

No one aside from Juiliano was a match, but that’s all Bernard needed.

“I’ve had her kidney four weeks, and every day I’m just reminded that she gave me the gift of life,” Bernard said. “It’s amazing.”

As far as Juiliano is concerned, it’s just what one friend should do for another.

“She’s been my friend for about eight years now and it’s like why not, why wouldn’t I?” Juiliano said. “She’s a really good friend, so why wouldn’t you do it?”

Nonprofit organizations and the U.S. Department of Health are urging people nationwide to become organ donors.

Since 1998, Valentine’s Day has also served as National Donor Day in the U.S. Twenty-two people die every day while waiting for a transplant, and a single organ donor can save eight lives, according to the National Foundation for Transplants.

Click here to register to become an organ donor.