A just saw a wonderful story on WGBH’s Greater Boston.
Last year Jesse Mermell ran against Jake Auchincloss for US Congress. She ran a good campaign and it was a very tight race but Auchincloss edged her out in the primary.
Tonight’s show was about a friend of Jesse Mermell named Rosina-Maria Lucibello. The two of them had known each other through political activism over the years.
Rosina has been dealing with kidney problems for a few years but last year suddenly took a turn for the worse. She went on dialysis and her prognosis didn’t look good. One day with out too much thought she posted a note on Facebook saying “I need a kidney”. Jesse saw the note, realized she had the right blood type and thought “I could do that”. She ruminated on it for a few days and then took the plunge.
Three weeks ago one of Jesse’s kidneys, who they have named Rena, was transplanted into Rosina. Both donor and recipient are doing just fine.
My favorite part of the story was when Jesse was asked about how she came to the decision. She said I wish I had a poetic or dramatic story but “it just seemed like the obvious thing to do”.
We should all have a friend like Jesse Mermell.
Thank you for sharing this lovely story.
I was just tipped off that the show I saw last night was a repeat . The donation of ‘Rena’ happened last May.
… still takes nothing away from the story though
HI! I came across this online and just wanted to say THANK YOU! it has been already 20 months and Jesse’s courage to give me this most precious gift of life has changed my life — Jesse is my heroine – she is a true gift to humanity! Every breath I take since May 18, 2021 ia because of Jesse Mermell <3