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05/24/2017 12:00 AMEast Haven resident Deneisha Coles has goals to be a firefighter and own a motorcycle, but those plans are on hold while she prepares to donate her kidney to her younger brother.
Jaquis Hornesburger, her brother, received his first kidney transplant when he was 14 years old. Deneisha says her mother even went on public television to help get the message out there and find a donor.
He eventually received a kidney from someone who had passed away in an accident. Deneisha wanted to give her kidney to him then, but her mother did not agree with the decision at the time.
“I wanted to give it to him that first time, but my mother refused to have both of her kids laying on a table,” Deneisha says.
Deneisha’s mother told her in November that the kidney her brother had received was failing. She told her mother “you know what that means.”
“I’m 30 now, you can’t tell me I can’t give it to him this time,” Deneisha says, “I just went about it, called a 1-800 number, and went for it,”
The two found out on Valentine’s Day that they were a match.
Deneisha says that according to what she was told, kidneys received by deceased donors last for only 8 to 10 years. The lifespan for a kidney given by a living related donor is much longer, she says.
The process of getting to the transplant surgery has been difficult, Deneisha says. She had to learn a lot about the process and do many different tests.
“You learn all about the information and ratios and stuff like that,” she says, “MRIs, EKGs, CAT scans, everything you can think of, I had to do.”
While it may have been difficult, Deneisha says that it was a great experience overall. She says that with the last transplant, her brother was the only one going through the process, but now that she is going through the process as well, she has a better understanding of what he goes through.
“I definitely get an understanding, like when it’s time to get the bloodwork, how tired he is, and how draining everything is,” says Deneisha, “Him being on dialysis three times a week, I just get tired of him going through what he’s going through.”
Deneisha and her brother went for their final pre-op testing on May 15, and she says that everything is good. The surgery was scheduled to take place at Yale New Haven Hospital on May 23.
Deneisha, her mother, and her brother all work at Yale New Haven. Deneisha herself works at Temple Medical Center in ambulatory surgery.
However, she wants to be a firefighter, and even volunteers in East Haven. Her plans to continue studying and training are on hold until after the transplant, but she says that the Fire Department has been very supportive of the surgery.
“Everybody’s supportive,” says Deneisha. “The Fire Department is a big support, my family, my friends, the motorcycle club that I’m in is very supportive, my co-workers.”
Deneisha says she feels incredible and joyful that she was able to help her brother, adding that he’s her only sibling.
“It’s just unbelievable how everything turned out,” she says, “As far being a match, especially hearing the results on Valentine’s Day, it was remarkable.”
Deneisha encourages others do to what they can to help save other people as well, even if they aren’t in a similar situation.
“If people could just give blood, that’s saving somebody’s life,” she says, “There are so many people on a waiting list, and if anybody could just donate, give, it’ll help. Don’t wait until it becomes a family member of yours to try to save them.”
She says there are many people on waiting lists for transplants, and there are programs in place that can help get people off those lists.
“You can bless somebody with that,” Deneisha says, “The list is long and they don’t have too many people that are donating to help people.”
One of the things Deneisha wants to do after the surgery is get a motorcycle and become a full-fledged member of the M-Pire/eM-Press motorcycle club.
“I’m thinking about getting a Suzuki 750,” she says.