Mary Delaune and Gayle Clement Richard have a lot in common. They both like the outdoors and enjoy gardening, although Richard says her garden isn’t as good as Delaune’s. Their husbands are both named Mike, their mothers are both named Mary and their mothers-in-law are both named Elsie. And in May they found out they had another thing in common – their blood, which allowed Delaune to become a living kidney donor for Richard. Delaune, administrative assistant in records and registration, and Richard have known each other since 1990, when they both worked as secretaries in academic success, which was then part of freshman division (now University College). Richard retired from Nicholls in 2002, but the two remained close friends.

Richard had been having problems with her kidneys since the mid-80s, due to a hereditary kidney disease. She had a kidney transplant in 1995, but 11 years later she needed another one. Richard was put on a national kidney transplant list in December 2006 and told the waiting period could be three to five years.

In a casual conversation during a visit Richard made to Delaune’s office, Delaune said she wanted to be tested to see if she would be a match. The blood tests were done in May, and Delaune had to give 19 tubes of blood. No one else had been tested for being a possible donor.

“She was the first one, and she was a match,” Richard says.

The transplant was performed Oct. 4 at Oschner Hospital in New Orleans, after five months of tests, scheduling and waiting. Since this was Richard’s second transplant, she had a more difficult time recovering than when she received her first kidney. She says the first transplant is more traumatic for the donor, but the second transplant is more traumatic for the recipient. Recovery was slow in the beginning, Richard says, but her condition has improved and her doctors say everything is looking good. Delaune says she should return to work this month.

When Richard needed her first transplant, 12 years ago, Delaune told her she would consider getting tested but then decided not to because she had a young son. “I guess 12 years ago just wasn’t right,” Delaune says.

However, Delaune says when Richard needed her second transplant, she didn’t have any concerns about being a living donor. “If we were a match, that was going to be my sign from God,” she says. “Looking back, it was nothing.”

Delaune says more people should consider being an organ donor, especially while living. She says a donor is never pressured and is always reminded that the donation is voluntary.

“When they’re wheeling you into surgery, you have the option to back out,” Delaune says.

Richard considers herself lucky, because having two living donors in one lifetime is rare. And it’s more rare that one of the living donors was unrelated. Her first living donor was a relative, her cousin Faye. Since Delaune wasn’t related to Richard, the chances of their matching were slim. Although people find matches on national lists, they’re among thousands, Richard says.

“When I told my husband we were going to get checked, he said, ‘What’s the big deal? Y’all aren’t ever going to match,'” Delaune says.