Province resident Dawn Calamari, 69, spent five months searching for a kidney for her ill husband. When she turned to social media in a final act of desperation, it seemed her prayers were answered when a donor stepped forward in February.
Unfortunately, there’s been a somber development.
The woman who had planned to donate her kidney to 72-year-old Alex Calamari had to bow out due to her own health reasons, Dawn learned Saturday. Alex’s kidneys failed after strong antibiotics led to sepsis after heart surgery.
“He was so sick, I almost lost him,” Dawn told InMaricopa today of Alex’s 2023 hospitalization. Doctors said that if she brought her husband to intake 90 minutes later, he would have died. He had preferred to stay home and sleep it off, insisting on a nap that day — fortunately, his protestations were futile.
Though she’s back to square one in finding her husband a new kidney, Dawn remains thankful that the would-be donor made it as far as she did and sympathizes with her recent medical plight. “It’s been horrible,” Dawn said. “She tried so hard, but she got knocked out.”
Neither of the Calamari children were eligible donors due to their own health issues, and during a recent trip to see them, Alex caught a virus and got extremely sick once again. It was a reminder to Dawn that she had to work quickly.
While Alex’s condition is not considered terminal, if he catches another bug, it could end his life swiftly. Dawn said her husband’s life philosophy is one of “quality over quantity,” adding that he would not agree to be kept alive using machines.
She has once again taken to the social networking site Nextdoor in recent days asking if anyone would be willing to donate their kidney to her husband. She acknowledges it’s a big ask.
“I’m doing what a million other people are, but I’m not a million other people,” Dawn said Saturday in a post that also urged Maricopa residents to become organ donors.
“It’s so easy, just signing a card or testing to be a living donor. What if you are the one magic person that can make the difference in a person’s life?”
Speaking of State Route 347, the highway between Maricopa and the Valley that is considered one of the most dangerous in the Western U.S., Dawn said Maricopa commuters to Phoenix already play “Russian roulette” every day.
If you live in Maricopa and drive on that road, she said, “you have the opportunity to make a difference and save a life.”
Dawn emphasized that donors can back out anonymously after committing to organ donation. While the withdrawal of Alex’s donor stings, Dawn encourages people not to rule out donorship if they have reservations.
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