PALO
ALTO, Calif., April 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sarah
Best was scrolling on Instagram while at home in
Sacramento when she came across a
stranger's story. It was about a teen who needed a kidney.
"Being O negative, I give a lot of blood, but I always had the
thought of wanting to do something more," Sarah said. "When I saw
that post, it just felt like it was that time."
The story described a 14-year-old named Jaxon Shaneyfelt from Turlock, California, who got unexpected news
that he had kidney failure.
Sarah called the number on the post, which led her to the
transplant coordinators at Stanford Medicine Children's Health to
begin the living donor screening process. In November 2023, she was approved to donate.
Jaxon was less than six months from requiring dialysis, said
Thomas Pham, MD, pediatric kidney
transplant surgical director at Stanford Children's. "Sarah helped
him immensely because he didn't need to go on dialysis. That will
help with his long-term outcomes. She's also saving another life
because it's making an organ available for someone else on the
transplant list. With just one act of goodwill, the impact overall
is immeasurable."
Before his diagnosis more than a year ago, Jaxon felt like
nothing was wrong.
"He was living a normal life," said Micah Shaneyfelt, his mom. "In December 2022, I noticed that Jaxon was extremely
fatigued. After taking him to two different doctors, he continued
to get worse—we drove him immediately from our home in Turlock to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Stanford. They performed scans, multiple tests, and saved his
life."
Jaxon had orbital cellulitis, or an infection around his eye. As
a part of the check-up, he got lab work and an ultrasound. When
those results showed abnormal kidney function, Ruby Patel, MD, pediatric nephrologist at
Stanford Children's, sent for a genetic test.
Jaxon was diagnosed with nephronophthisis, a genetic disorder of
the kidneys. Children who have this disease need a kidney
transplant by the time they're teenagers, as it eventually leads to
kidney failure.
"He went from thinking everything was fine to now being told he
needed a transplant within a year," Dr. Patel said. "That's hard
for anybody."
Facing the news head-on
After his diagnosis, Jaxon and his family met Jennifer Tanaka, RN, BSN, CCTC, his transplant
coordinator, for an evaluation appointment to prepare for when he
would get sick enough to need a transplant.
"I work with a lot of potential recipients, and sometimes it can
be hard for them to reach out and ask for help," Tanaka said. "But,
I always tell them, you never know what's out there unless you ask,
because there are people that truly do care."
That's exactly what the Shaneyfelts did.
"As soon as we got Jaxon's juvenile nephronophthisis diagnosis,
I started sharing his story immediately, since I could not be his
donor," Micah said. "I knew it could take some time to find a
match, so I needed to get the word out every way I could. We're
blessed to live in a time where we have Facebook, Instagram, and
all of the other social media platforms."
In June 2023, Jaxon did get
sicker. He was more tired at school. He had to visit Stanford
Children's more frequently because his lab results were not great.
Jaxon needed a transplant soon. A few months later, he received a
fateful call that somebody wanted to donate their kidney to
him.
Kidney buddies for life
On Dec. 19, 2023, Sarah drove from
Sacramento to Stanford Medicine. The next day, both Sarah and
Jaxon had their surgeries.
"Sarah is truly the definition of altruism," said Gerri James, RN, BSN, CCTC, kidney transplant
program manager. "It's a big deal donating to somebody you don't
know, and she said, 'As long as I'm home with my family for
Christmas, I'll be fine.' It's amazing. That's the best gift Jaxon
will ever get."
Jaxon then received another gift. Not all recipients get to meet
their donor, and not all living donors meet the patient they
helped. But these two had the opportunity at a clinic
follow-up.
"The Shaneyfelts are just so sweet," Sarah recalled. "They had
no idea who I was, but when I walked in the room, it almost felt
like friends you've always had. As we started talking, all these
connections started forming. It just feels good that you can help
someone live, but there are emotional days. I hope this kidney
gives him a long time of healthy living because he's a 14-year-old
boy. He should be out having fun."
Jaxon and his family presented Sarah with a kidney plushie they
signed with a special message.
"The kindness Sarah's given us just makes me speechless," Jaxon
said. "Seeing the person who saved my life made me feel the same
way. I want to say thank you again and again to my kidney
buddy."
Jaxon is back in school and looking forward to playing
basketball again. While getting back to daily life is important, he
is also looking forward to the many more meetups he'll have with
his kidney buddy, including teasing Sarah's husband about being a
Dodgers fan.
"When things started to feel a little discouraging, someone was
placed in our lives to lift us up and encourage Jaxon—whether that
was his care team, the Turlock
community, or his angel on earth, Sarah," Micah said. "Words will
never be able to express our appreciation. We are hoping that
someday, there will be no wait list, but an abundant list of living
donors to give the same gift of life."
The team at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford
has performed more pediatric kidney transplants than any other
U.S. center. Learn more about the pediatric kidney
transplant and how to become a living donor >
Contact:
Katie Chen
katchen@stanfordchildrens.org
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SOURCE Stanford Medicine Children's Health and Lucile Packard
Children's Hospital Stanford