Banner – Unversity Medicine Annual Report

Tucson/Chicago Kidney Transplant Patients/Donors Meet For the First Time: The summer of 2019, Frank Pompa, 44, was prompted to visit a doctor as he was being cleared to work for a mine in Safford, AZ. He had played college baseball, was very active, never went to the doctor and was suddenly diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure with only 10 percent kidney function and immediately started on dialysis twice a week. Frank was placed on the United Network for Organ Sharing’s National Transplant (UNOS) wait list. Siblings have a one in four chance of being genetically identical, making them natural donor candidates. Frank reached out to his family and his sister, Joely Sanders, 52, was immediately willing to donate her kidney to her brother but she was not a match. She remained committed to becoming a donor to help someone else in need. Thanks to the partnership between the Banner – University Medicine Living Kidney Donor Program and the national UNOS program, the organizations found a genetic kidney donor match for Frank and someone in need who genetically matched Joely. Both Frank and Joely live in Arizona and they were matched Tony and Tracey Gonzalez, patients who live in Illinois. On October 19, 2023, Tracey’s kidney was donated, transported and transplanted to Frank in Tucson at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and Joely’s kidney was donated, transported and transplanted to Tracey’s husband, Tony in Chicago at Advocate Christ Chicago. The patients met one another for the first time, joined by their transplant care teams who share their touching story and the logistics involved in transporting and transplanting live kidneys across states and time zones. SW Regional Trauma Conference Reunites Police Officer with EMR and Medical Team Who Saved His Life: The 2023 Southwest Regional Trauma conference reunited a Tucson police officer who lost both his legs during a hit and run collision. He was reunited with the officers, paramedics and surgery team who saved his life. During the conference, officer Kyle Lorenz was surprised by the emergency response and medical team when he was on stage addressing the participants of the conference. He was beyond grateful to be reunited with the people who saved his life. Officer Lorenz shared how he was tragically hit by a drunk driver while responding to a separate hit and run collision as he was getting out of his patrol car.