Transplant for San Francisco Giants fan who received kidney from Royals fan is a homerun
They’re still in pain but their spirits are high today.
On Wednesday, long-time Royals fan Josh Harrold, who now lives in Orange County, Calif., donated one of his kidneys to his San Francisco Giants-loving friend, Kelly van den Berghe.
The surgery, which took place at Stanford Hospital, was a success, Harrold’s wife, Erica, told the Star on Friday. (Read the Star’s pre-surgery story about the two sports fans here.)
She posted a photo on Facebook Thursday of the two friends hugging each other for the first time after their surgeries.
“He's been my hero for so long and now I get to share him with Kelly,” Erica wrote. “Both surgeries were successes, without complications and they just finally got to see one another. What a beautiful thing to see this embrace!”
Josh, 38, a native of Hutchinson, Kan., has known van den Berghe for about 15 years. They met through her celebrity husband, Lex van den Berghe, who competed on “Survivor: Africa” and “Survivor: All Stars.”
Josh and others close to van den Berghe have known she has PKD — polycystic kidney disease. The chronic, genetic disease causes cysts to grow uncontrollably in the kidneys, eventually leading to kidney failure, according to the PKD Foundation, based in Kansas City.
Her friends didn’t know, though, how sick she’d become until last August when she told her Facebook family she needed a kidney.
Josh volunteered his. The friends turned out to be nearly as good a match as a brother and sister would have been, doctors told them.
Josh, who works in marketing as director of operations for a company called FoxTales, didn’t tell his friend he was her match until he could create a grand announcement with help from both the Giants and Royals.
That moment came in November when he surprised van den Berghe at AT&T Park, home of the Giants.
Josh had a Royals jersey ready for her to wear. Van den Berghe was grateful for the kidney but still to this day thinks she jinxed her team’s season by donning that jersey.
The surgeon told Erica her husband had a “beautiful kidney” that began functioning almost immediately when placed in its new home.
Josh was scheduled to go home on Friday, Kelly on Sunday, said Erica.
She said Josh was being “skittish about flavorful foods” after his operation and might have to delay that post-surgery celebratory meal of barbecue he had planned.
And just as she reported that he ordered his hospital lunch: Braised short ribs and mashed potatoes.
This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Transplant for San Francisco Giants fan who received kidney from Royals fan is a homerun."