Page 10 - SilverLinings Issue 5

i
l
e
g
n
A
A
u
s
t
i
n
10
This is a story about the Angel in Austin and how, through a chain of kidney donations and transplants, she is forever linked with a Silver Hill Hospital employee.
Pam Rockland, Silver Hill’s Director of Advancement Operations, was one of the donors in a chain that included her daughter Alana receiving a kidney transplant for her chronic kidney disease. While Pam’s organ donation was honorable for sure, the real hero of the story, according to Pam, was the Angel in Austin.
Victoria Threadgould, who Pam calls the Angel in Austin, was the person who started the chain.
Victoria’s donation was completely altruistic as she did not know anyone who needed a kidney. Just knowing that her kidney could save a life – any life – was enough for Victoria.
“I did this for my daughter, but this woman, this stranger, for no reason other than out of the goodness of her heart decided to do this,” Pam says.
Victoria is the grant writer for the Ascension Texas Foundation. Earlier this year, Ascension Seton Medical Center opened the new Adult Abdominal Transplant Center at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin. Victoria was the first altruistic kidney donor at the new center.
“Knowing that I’m physically fit and fortunate to have
good health made me think of what I can do to help someone else who is not as fortunate. Then it became a question of why wouldn’t I do it?” says Victoria, who is a Pilates instructor, runner and bicyclist. “It’s in my nature to help people and this is another way of giving back. I would encourage anyone who is thinking about being a live organ donor to do it.”
The transplant success rate for live organs is higher than that of organs from deceased donors.
The path that connected the Angel in Austin to Pam and Alana is winding and filled with ups and downs.
It was originally planned to be a kidney swap with Pam, Alana and another mother-daughter duo from the New York City area. To better match the age of
the organs to the recipients and because the other daughter was not a transplant match with her mother, Pam’s kidney was to go to the mother and the other daughter’s kidney was to go to Alana. The swap was arranged through Mount Sinai, where both transplants were to take place.
All members of the exchange underwent an arduous process of physical and mental evaluations. Pam worked from home for several months to avoid exposure with others and minimize the risk of contracting COVID. Her only contact with her grandchildren from her other
SILVER HILL HOSPITAL
n