AL-01: Alabama congressional candidate donates kidney amid pandemic
Alabama Democratic congressional candidate Kiani Gardner donated a kidney to a stranger last month amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Gardner, who has been in the process of becoming a donor for the past two years, told The Hill on Tuesday that she did not expect to be called for a donor surgery during her congressional race, let alone a pandemic.
"It wasn't the plan," Gardner said. "They had soft-scheduled the surgery like four times, so I started this well before the congressional campaign, but then something would fall through or for some reason it didn't happen, and so I was expecting it not to happen anytime soon."
She got the call about two weeks before the scheduled surgery on April 30, saying the procedure had been given the green light.
Additionally, Gardner said she had to self-isolate prior to the surgery and get tested for coronavirus prior to the procedure.
"It was an inconvenient time to give a kidney, but in the grand scheme of things it's no less convenient than to have your kidneys fail," she said.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/497357-alabama-congressional-candidate-donates-kidney-amid-pandemic