Two Chicago-area women exchanged kidneys Thursday, each donating one to the other woman's husband.
The exchange allowed Carl Chandler of Park Forest and Francisco Torres of Chicago to receive kidneys without spending months or years on transplant waiting lists, the Chicago Tribune reported. Both men suffered from end-stage renal disease.
Paulette Chandler and Alfreda Torres were unable to donate kidneys to their own husbands because of their blood types. But each was a match for the other woman's husband.
Both couples went through the surgery successfully at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago.
The swap was a first for Illinois. For the two couples it had additional meaning because the Chandlers are black and the Torreses Hispanic.
"We talked about how this was going to be something good for the community, because there are so many people who get sick the same way and we need all to try to help each other," Alfreda Torres said.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
