By: Hollie Hojek
hhojek@kcautv.com
"I was, I was ready to quit. I was really ready to quit,"said Curt Green of Sioux City.
Green was just 46-years old and ready to give up on life, after a routine gall bladder procedure took a turn for the worst. You see doctors accidentally punctured his intestines causing him to lose his kidneys. Green spent a month in a coma and over 200 days in the hospital.He was also forced to begin dialysis, something he says is hard to put into words just how horrible it really is.
"I was on the needle... with two needles in my arms, for four hours a day, three times a week. And after you have dialysis, you're shot the rest of the day," said Green.
There was hope for Green. He was on the donor list to get a new kidney, but he would have to wait another five years before making it to the top of the list. And for Green, that meant another five years of dialysis, something he says would have been unbearable. But that's when he got another lucky break, a family friend stepped forward and offered to donate his own kidney.
"My friend Joey said I want to donate my kidney. I get teary-eyed because, it's changed my life. It's changed my life," said Green.
Now, five years later, Green is doing very well. You can currently find him speaking to students in Northwest Iowa on behalf of the Iowa Donor's Organization, telling young people about just how important organ donations are to saving someone's life.
"It is just incalculable the amount of living and life you can give to someone by donating,"said Green.
