LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Andreas Price walks into work with a sense of purpose and gratitude every morning.
Price is a family aftercare coordinator at Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA). As he steps inside the KODA headquarters each day, he looks at the stories on the wall of people who gave — and were given — the gift of life.
“It’s heartwarming," Price said, “To come in every day and know that I have the opportunity to support donor families as they journey, as they celebrate, at the same time the legacy of their loved one because their loved one is considered a hero and lifesaver.”
In his office, Price said he works with families of organ donors, supporting them after their loved ones pass, for seven years. But his involvement with the organization goes back much further.
“My mom was a donor in 1988, early in the history of the organization,” Price said. “And she was a donor at the same time I was waiting for a kidney transplant and was on the list."
"My connection with KODA goes back that far.”
When Price’s mother died of a brain aneurysm, she became an organ, tissue and cornea donor. Several years earlier, Price had been diagnosed with end-stage renal disease when he was in high school. He’d been on dialysis ever since.
Price received his first kidney transplant year after his mother died, in 1989. It wasn’t the healthiest kidney, and it wasn’t from a donor within Price’s own race. His doctors told him his first transplant would only buy him four or five more years, but with extreme care, he survived with it for 14 years.
“Not only was I doing that for me, but I also felt that was a way which I could honor my donor family by taking care of the gift that family provided,” Price said.
After 14 years with the first kidney transplant, Price went back on dialysis. He waited more than five years for his second transplant.
As he was awaiting his second transplant, Price felt called to go into ministry. He commuted from Kentucky to seminary classes in Indianapolis, taking his dialysis machine with him in the car.
Shortly after obtaining his master's degree in divinity, Price received his second kidney transplant. He’s been a pastor ever since.
In addition to his full-time job at KODA, Price is the senior pastor at Oakland Baptist Church in Louisville.
Price said he hopes more people will sign up to be on the organ donor registry in Kentucky. He added it’s also important for minorities to be on the list.
“Communities of color are now the majority of those waiting for kidney transplants,” Price said of national statistics.
Meanwhile, in Kentucky, there are 995 candidates on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Of them, Caucasians account for 721, African Americans account for 226, Hispanic and Latino residents account for 24, Asians account for 19 and five others of other races are awaiting transplants.
According to KODA, of the 995 Kentuckians on the organ transplant waiting list, 837 need kidneys. KODA added patients have a better chance of finding a compatible organ within their own ethnic backgrounds, so a diverse donor registry is important.
Be the Match said when it comes to matching through HLA markers, which are used in organ transplants, like stem cell and bone marrow transplants, patients may have the best chance of finding a match within their own ethnic groups. HLA markers can also help determine risk of organ rejection.
Through education and advocacy, more minorities have signed up to be organ donors in Kentucky in recent years, Price said.
“And in those situations that the doctors can’t make the miracle happen for the potential donors, then there’s the miracle for those who are waiting for the gift,” Price said.
Price said he hopes that sharing his own story will encourage others to join the registry. He is registered as an organ donor himself, and while he couldn’t donate kidneys, he could potentially donate other organs, tissue and his corneas.