The Strange Story Of A New York Man Who Tried To Take His Donated Kidney Back After Divorcing His Wife
Unfortunately, there is always a shortage of organ donors. In fact, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), there are currently about one hundred and six thousand men, women, and children hopefully awaiting a donor organ on the national transplant waitlist.
And sadly, about seventeen people die every single day waiting for their transplant.
So, if a patient is in need of a non-essential organ, it is not unheard of for loved ones who are a biological match to offer their own.
These living donations are most common with kidneys, where a healthy donor with two functioning kidneys can give one to a family member with little to no kidney function.
This is possible since people are able to live with just one kidney, even though they are at an increased risk for illness and injury for the rest of their life. Nonetheless, when a loved one’s life is at stake, people tend not to second-guess this decision.
Interestingly, though, one man named Dr. Richard Batista did just that after donating a kidney to his wife back in 2001.
Richard worked at Nassau University Medical Center in New York as a surgeon before meeting his wife, Dawnell, in 1990. They eventually got married and had children before her health sadly declined.
So, in 2001, Richard decided to donate one of his kidneys. And following the surgery, Dawnell recovered amazingly– making this a true success story of love in sickness and in health.
However, come 2005, the couple’s marriage had apparently taken a turn for the worst. Dawnell was the one who filed for divorce; meanwhile, Richard claimed she had been unfaithful for the past two years of their marriage.
Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person
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At the same time, though, Dawnell claimed that Richard was actually the one who cheated. Moreover, she alleged that he had abused her.
In turn, their divorce proceedings were not quick or easy. And instead of simply splitting their home and assets, Richard decided that he wanted to take back his kidney. He alleged that for his investment in Dawnell’s life, he was either owed the kidney back or its equivalent value of $1.5 million.
Nonetheless, even though Richard and his lawyer worked hard to push this through court, his claim was ultimately rejected. Medical ethicists essentially claimed that since it is already illegal to sell or buy organs, splitting the value would be nonsense.
And despite most people predicting this outcome even before trial, this theme of ex-lovers hoping to reclaim their donated organs post-breakup is not that uncommon. In fact, another woman named Samantha Lamb also tried to get her kidney back from her soon-to-be ex-husband in 2014. She had donated the kidney five years prior in 2009 but alleged that her husband had cheated on her shortly after the surgery.
Plus, earlier this year, a TikToker named Colleen Le gained a sizable social media following after detailing a similar story. She, too, donated a kidney to her boyfriend, who went on to cheat and ultimately break up with her.
However, she never pursued legal action to actually take back ownership of the kidney– despite countless TikTok commenters telling her to do so.
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