Kidney Transplant Recipient Promotes Awareness

Northborough resident Penny Brown volunteered during last weekend's Spirit of Shrewsbury to continue repaying an act of kindness 15 years ago.

Brown received a kidney transplant 15 years ago.

Brown was among the New England Organ Bank volunteers raising awareness of organ and tissue donation during last weekend's festivities.

"I owe it. I owe my life to transplant," Brown told Northborough Patch this week.

"Someone was kind enough to sign up to be a donor, and I am alive because of it. So, why shouldn't I spread the word and help other people?"  

Brown said she had been "sick most of my life" from polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, a genetic disease, before receiving her transplant.

"My mother passed away from (PKD) when I was in my teens," Brown said.

Brown said she ultimately went on dialysis at 39 for 11 months, "a very short time," when her surgeon called to say a kidney was available

"I was happy, excited, jubilant. Then I felt bad for the person who passed away," Brown said.

"And then everything happened so fast. You just go right to the hospital, whisked in, hooked up to every machine. And then when I woke up, I didn't know that a person could feel that good. It was immediate. I hadn't known what it was like to feel well in recent years."

Brown now volunteers at community events to educate the public, and sign people up to be organ donors.

"There's just so much misinformation out there," Brown said.

"There are still a lot of people who believe that if they were hurt in an accident, they wouldn't be saved, because they just want their organs. That stems from the '70s: some really bad TV and movies. 

"A lot of people believe they're too old. But, there's no age limit."