SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Nearly three years ago, prison inmate David Patterson donated a kidney to a girl he hardly knew -- his sick daughter.
His gift revived their relationship and gave Renada Daniel Patterson new hope.Now the transplanted kidney is failing, after the girl stopped taking powerful drugs that stave off rejection of transplanted organs. Patterson, who has more than three years remaining on burglary and drug convictions, wants to give the teenager his remaining kidney, an operation that would place his own health in jeopardy.
The 16-year-old girl's doctors at the University of California at San Francisco balked at the transplant request, but an ethics panel is reviewing the matter at the urging of Renada's family, said the girl's mother, Vickie Daniel.
"They told us it would be unethical," said Daniel, who never married Patterson. "We believe it's not about ethics. These are family members making a decision for the future of their child."
Patterson's unusual offer, which would also have to be approved by prison officials, raises questions about whether it is acceptable for someone to sacrifice his own future for someone else's through organ transplantation.
Patterson, 37, could survive for a time without kidneys, which filter toxins from the blood, with the help of a dialysis machine that would do the job mechanically. But his health would be constantly threatened and the government would have to pick up the $40,000 annual cost of dialysis.
"I am told this is something he wants to try to do. But it's a dire question at this point," said Lt. Billy Mayfield, spokesman for the state prison in Sacramento, where Patterson is imprisoned. "Quite frankly, I'm not sure I have a good answer for it. When you talk about children, you get kind of tingly. You would do just about anything for them. I can see a good argument on both sides."
Daniel said Patterson has had regular telephone and mail contact with his daughter since she received his first kidney in March 1996 and that he has developed a strong emotional bond with the 11th-grade student. He has never supported the girl financially.
If the transplant happens, it will be the girl's third such operation. Renada was born with one unhealthy kidney, which surgeons replaced when she was 5 years old.
Her body soon rejected the organ and for the next seven years she underwent dialysis three times a week.