A Missouri dad became overwhelmed with emotions after discovering that his young daughter was his kidney donor.
Last year, John Ivanowski, a 60-year-old man, was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, a type of kidney disease in which his immune system attacked his kidneys and which could lead to kidney failure.
Daily Mail wrote, “The deficiency means a person has low levels or no IgA, an antibody part of the immune system, in their blood, and this could lead to autoimmune issues, which can cause the immune system to turn on their body, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.”
After his diagnosis, the doctors told him he needed to get kidney dialysis on a regular basis to survive.
So, John had to spend four days a week in the hospital for his kidney dialysis, which was both painful and highly expensive.
Seeing her father’s deteriorating health condition, John’s 25-year-old daughter, Delayne decided to help him by donating one of her kidneys.
However, John, who lost his only son and Delayne’s brother to cancer 16 years ago, refused because he didn’t want to risk his daughter’s health at any cost.
“I told her, I’m not taking your kidney,’” John told ABC News. “I told her that flat out.”
Speaking with the news outlet, Delayne said she was extremely heartbroken to see her dad in that condition.
“He likes to walk my dog and run with my dog, and he wants to do all this stuff, but now he’s hooked up to a machine. I don’t think that’s any way that anybody should have to live,” she said.
So, Delayne, a nurse at the Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, decided to help his father without caring about how mad he would get when he finds what she did for him.
“I was like, “I’m going to do it. I don’t care how mad he is at me. I don’t care if he kicks me out of the house or hates me or doesn’t say a word to me for the rest of my life,” she told ABC News.
“At least he’ll be living a good life and not hooked up to a machine.”
The 25-year-old went through a month-long process to become her father’s kidney donor.
“It meant getting endless medical tests, and fielding dozens of calls with social workers and medical staff, all while living under her parents’ roof,” per Daily Mail.
In August, John received a call from the hospital informing him that they had found a donor for him.
“They called me at work and said, “We’ve got an anonymous donor,” and I about dropped the phone and thought are you kidding me?” he said.
“People can be on the [kidney waiting] list for five, six, seven, eight years and go through dialysis for that long, and I just couldn’t believe it.”
Ivanowski underwent his surgery at the Washington University And Barnes-Jewish Transplant Center in St Louis, and the hospital staff ensured he didn’t discover Delayne’s secret.
“Jason Wellen, who is the center’s kidney and pancreas transplant surgical director and John’s doctor, said the staff had to do a lot of ‘behind-the-scenes’ work to make sure the father and daughter were kept in separate pre-op areas, and had to ensure they didn’t spot each other in post-op as well to maintain secrecy until Delayne was ready to break the news to John.”
Finally, after eight months of his surgery, Delayne told her father she was his kidney donor.
When Delayne entered her dad’s hospital room with an IV drip after the surgery, John knew what had happened.
He looked at his wife and said, “Oh my God. Are you kidding me?” Then he began to sob.
Her mother filmed the emotional moment, which she later shared on her TikTok account. The video received over 4 million views and hundreds of thousands of comments praising Delayne for being an amazing daughter.
“the way she cares for him so gently just a reflection of who raised her,” one wrote.
“This might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, I’m sobbing,” another wrote.
“You’re amazing I would do the same for mine,” a third said.
“I’ve been watching this over and over… crying. You’re your dads hero! What an amazing sneaky daughter you are! And I bet Nugget is very grateful too,” a fourth commented.
“My love you deserve nothing but good from this world. Such a selfless act,” added another.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know in the comments.
Sources: Daily Mail – ABC News – TikTok
