D.C. Lawyer Gets New Kidney in Historic Domino Transplant

A Washington, D.C., lawyer who is chair of an ABA committee on postal matters received a new kidney in an unusual eight-way transplant thought to be the largest chain of donations to date.

Lawyer Bob Brinkmann was one of eight transplant recipients and his wife, Lisa, was one of eight donors. The surgeries spanned four cities: Baltimore, Detroit, Oklahoma City and St. Louis, the Washington Post reports. Chain transplants are arranged when willing donors are matched with transplant recipients with whom they are compatible, even those whom they don’t know.

Brinkmann received the new kidney from donor Theresa Watson—whose sister needed a kidney—at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on June 16. Brinkmann’s wife of one year, Lisa, wanted to donate a kidney but it was not compatible, so she donated her organ to a man in Detroit.

"I’m eternally grateful not only to the person who gave her kidney to me, but also to all the other donors," Brinkmann told the ABA Journal in a phone interview. "It literally changed somebody’s life."

Likewise, he is grateful to his wife, who is fighting off nausea as she recovers from her surgery. Without her donation to another person, he says, he could not have participated in the group transplant. "It’s truly a wonderful thing she did," he said.

Brinkmann told the ABA Journal that he noticed a big improvement the day after the surgery. "I woke up in intensive care and after two minutes I realized, wow, I was on pain medication, I had 32 staples in my abodmen, but I felt great, the best I had in two years.That whole week I just realized I felt like I had several years ago."

Before the surgery, Brinkmann tired easily. "Before, when I was on dialysis, I would take my 85-year-old parents to the grocery store," he recalled. "Halfway through, I had to sit down and get a coffee while the two of them finished their shopping. When a 58-year-old guy can’t keep up with his 85-year-old parents, you’re not in real good shape."

Brinkmann focuses on postal and regulatory issues and media law and lobbying, according to his website. He is chair of the Postal Matters Committee of the ABA’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice and counsel to the National League of Postmasters.

“That’s our Bob,” said Charley Mapa, president of the National League of Postmasters in an interview with the ABA Journal. He said Brinkmann had up days and down days over the past several months as he underwent dialysis, and on the worst days, he was very weak.

Mapa heard an immediate improvement in Brinkmann’s voice after the history-making transplant. “It’s been a wonderful thing for him—a new lease on life,” Mapa said.

Updated at 11:05 a.m. CT to include Brinkmann's additional comments.