[COMMUNICATED] Hi! I’m Idy and I’m eleven years old. Most girls my age don’t think too much about their internal organs, and until not too long ago I didn’t either. But now I know all about them! Let me tell you why.

Ever since I was very little, my mother (Raiza Ruchy Braun, Mother of 4, Lakewood, NJ) dreamed about donating a kidney to someone who needed it. I didn’t even know what a kidney was or what it did, and thinking about my mother having surgery and giving away a part of her body scared me.
I had a lot of questions: what is a kidney for? Why do we have two of them? How much time would my mother have to spend in the hospital? What if she needed her kidney later on? How would this change her life (and mine)?

Thanks to Renewal, my mother was able to answer all of my questions so that I wouldn’t be so worried. I learned all sorts of fascinating information about kidneys: that they filter bad stuff out of our blood, that a healthy person really only needs one to live a regular life, and that donating one would help someone get better without affecting the donor’s own health.

Finally, the day arrived. My mother was a match for someone who needed a kidney! She told me all about the man who would get her kidney and how she was so excited to be able to share the gift of health. The surgery went smoothly, baruch Hashem, and I was able to talk to my mother right after school on the day of the operation. Hearing her voice made me feel so calm and happy.

The best part of it all is that I get to see for myself that my mother saved someone’s life. The man who got her kidney is a father and grandfather named Dov, and I talk to him on the phone sometimes. He tells me about his family and his hobbies, he jokes with me and makes me laugh, and I even got to see pictures of his grandchildren. It makes me so happy to see that his whole family benefits every day from my mother’s amazing and selfless mitzvah.

Dov tells me that my mother is an angel, which I think is funny because she’s really “just” a mother. But you know what? He’s right. My mother is really special, and I am so proud to be her daughter.

Please Join Renewal on Tuesday, August 2nd at the Pine Belt Showroom, 1800 Ocean Ave as we help SAVE LIVES, and CELEBRATE LIVES!  Your presence is integral to support our Heroes: Our Kidney Donors, Recipients, and of course our current waiting list.