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Sailor donates kidney to save master chief’s wife

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Brian Davidson
  • 375th AIrlift Wing Public Affaird
SCOTT AFB, Ill. --- 7/21/06 --  For Petty Officer 2nd Class Elliot Riley, saving a life is as simple as surfing the Web.
Less than a year ago, Navy Petty Officer Riley, a medic with the Global Patient Movement Requirements Center, was reading the newspaper when he came across an article about the high number of people awaiting organ transplants and how only a fraction of these people will ever receive the organs they need to survive. 

Featured in that article was information about a service who strives to match potential organ donors with people in need. This service, matchingdonors.com, peaked Petty Office Riley’s curiosity and led the medic learn more about organ donation.
Petty Officer Riley couldn’t believe how many people were listed on the website. He read page after page of heart-wrenching stories that convinced him to register as a possible kidney donor. 

Almost immediately, he received his first response by a potential match. Although medical factors precluded the donation, Petty Officer Riley didn’t have to wait long before hearing from another person in desperate need—someone he immediately felt akin.
Retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Cameron Towner called Petty Officer Riley on behalf of his wife, Hoo Ping. 

Shortly after being contacted, arrangements were made for Petty Officer Riley to travel to Baltimore for medical screening and to meet the Towner family. “Getting to know them made me more excited,” Riley said. “She has a lot left to live.”
To establish whether he could be a successful match with Hoo Ping, Petty Officer Riley had vial after vial of blood taken, a CT scan, and met with “everyone from a psychologist to an urologist.” 

According to matchingdonors.com, “In 1993 there were 31,000 people on the national organ transplant waiting list. In 2005 there are 90,000 people. There are approximately 17 people a day dying while waiting on the list. Although live organ donation has been performed successfully since 1954 there are only six to seven thousand live organ donations per year.” 

In July, Petty Officer Riley will add to that number when he undergoes surgery to remove his kidney. His concern was partly relieved when he learned that his operation is to be conducted at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, one of the top hospitals in the world.
While Petty Officer Riley has had overwhelming support from his wife Becky, coworkers, family and friends, they are not without concern. Petty Officer Riley’s mother, Lisa, initially expressed her shock that her son would consider donating a kidney to someone he had never even met until recently and her concern that he was so young. 

“Once I thought about it, I could understand,” Lisa said. “I could see him doing something like this.” 

Petty Officer Riley’s father, William, says that such a selfless act is characteristic of his son. “This is the way Elliot is; he knows what he wants to do,” William said. “What a wonderful gift to give someone.” 

Petty Officer Riley’s father is also characteristic of his personality growing up. “He was always breaking new ground, and even in the Boy Scouts he was always a natural leader,” William said. “He is always off doing something different.” 

Five years ago, after graduating high school in Seminole, Florida, Petty Officer Riley joined the Navy and became a medic because he wanted to do something out of the ordinary that allowed him to help others. Today, his job at the GPMRC allows him to help others around the world. The GPMRC staff is responsible for evacuation requirements and patient movements globally. Simply put, they help get sick and injured people to the medical care they need. 

Petty Officer Riley is also father to two-year-old Hannah, and is expecting baby number two in October. Due to the pregnancy, his wife Becky will be unable to be at his bedside, but will remain in their home at Scott AFB looking after Hannah and anxiously awaiting word of her husband’s condition. 

Petty Officer Riley’s mother plans to be with her son before and after the surgery and serve as the link between him and Becky.
After surgery, Petty Officer Riley will remain in the hospital under observation for about six days and should return to work within six weeks. He also expects to be fully recovered for the birth of his new baby.