When an angel gives you the gift of life
Darlington man hopes to help the young woman that was his living donor
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
“I don’t want this to be about me,” begins Mark “Tim” Moore of Darlington. “I know I have to be in there, but I want people to know about Saylor. I never met her until the day of my kidney transplant, the day she gave me my life back. And now she is in need, and it is my duty to help her.”
Moore has lived in Darlington for fifty years. He was born with only one kidney, a fact he didn’t know until his only kidney began to hemorrhage.
Tim Moore
“I was 21 years old at the time, and told my mother and my step-father that I was passing blood when I went to the bathroom. Dr. Wilson here in Darlington sent me to MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina) to have emergency dialysis and surgery,” recalls Moore. “That is when it was discovered that I only had one kidney. That was back in 1977 – and I lived without problems until 2010.”
He knew there would come a time when he would need to go on dialysis; beginning the first of February 2011 his journey began He had a series of four connection ports, and two chest catheters. In 2012, he suffered a massive heart attack
that resulted in a double bypass surgery.
Saylor Moser
“On August 8th of this year, was my last day of dialysis,” said Moore. “I thought that was the end of my life. Then on Tuesday, I received a call from Charleston – I was a potential match for a living donor, and they needed me to come in for blood tests quickly.”
After arriving in Charleston, Moore had a meeting with the transplant doctor and surgery team. He had blood tests, and a physical screen.
“The surgeon told me the reason why I got the call was because Saylor and her family went through a private donation clinic- and with a blood and urine match, who ever had the highest percentage of not rejecting a kidney was chosen- I was at a 97 percentile, which is very unusual to be that high.”
That Wednesday morning Saylor, age 18, was prepared for surgery. “I was told to sign in at 7:30 that morning and go up to the waiting room and just wait. Again, I didn’t know who it was; all I knew was I had gotten a call and said it was a living donor. At 8 o’clock I was in the waiting room with my brother in law and my sister and we started talking about it. The woman across from me asked, ‘Are you getting a kidney today? From a living donor?’ I said yeah. She asked if I knew anything about them, and I said all I knew was that they had a lot of problems and they had to get rid of the kidney and I was a good match,” he recalled. “She looked at me and said, ‘That is my daughter.’”
At this point, Moore was overwhelmed with tears.
“I told her, ‘God sent you to me. Let me tell you right now, this Monday was the lowest point in my life.”
The tears openly flowed down his cheek. “I told her I was thinking about giving up dialysis,” he said slowly. “You know, you get angels come into your life all the time and you don’t realize it, but they do. But she is still suffering. And I want to repay her.”
“Saylor Moser is from Summerville. She is only 18 years old.” said Moore. “I never knew her, yet she was selfless enough to be a living donor. And now she is in need, and it is my turn to help her. To give you some background I asked her family to help me describe her health issues for me, to help spark some fundraising efforts for her.”
Saylor has been in unbearable pain after the surgery, and there has been no relief in sight. Her family hopes that by visiting the pain specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, relief for her pain may be found.
The following description is on the Go Fund Me page “Hope for Saylor” www.gofundme.com/2snsk3g.
Saylor was born with a very rare disorder called Posterior Nutcracker Syndrome. Her left renal vein was crushed between her aorta and her spine, not allowing the blood to exit the kidney. This has caused her pain all her life, but it wasn’t until two years ago, when she fractured her spine, that the pain became unbearable.
This year has been a tough one for her. She was basically bed ridden for her entire Senior year, no softball, no prom, no anything but pain. In February she had her first major surgery, a renal vein transposition, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
The family returned six weeks later for her second transposition, this time it was a 7 & 1/2 hour surgery using a vein from her leg to make a new renal vein.
On August 10th she lost her left kidney. [Editor’s note: this is when she became the living donor to save Tim Moore’s life.]
The pain was better for a short time but has returned. It just continues to increase daily.
She now has been referred to a pain specialist at Mayo in Jacksonville, FL to try and get some relief. Insurance will not cover this, and requires the payment up front.
“God has blessed us so greatly, but this is just more than we can begin to cover on top of all the medical bills we already have.” says Saylor’s mother.
The program will cost $20,000.00 and will have to be paid before she can be accepted.
“Does God give people crosses to bear their whole life?” said Tim. “He may do that, because it teaches them valuable lessons in life. You don’t deserve pain, you deserve the blessings you receive from the pain”
Moore hopes readers may choose to become an organ donor, by declaring that on their driver’s license at their local DMV. To learn more, visit: www.organdonor.gov.
He also hopes that if you feel moved to help, that you consider donating towards her medical fund. Go Fund Me page “Hope for Saylor” www.gofundme.com/2snsk3g.