The Missouri House has presented a resolution this week recognizing a state lawmaker who donated a kidney in January, as part of a three-way kidney trade.
State Rep. J. Eggleston, R-Maysville, speaks on the Missouri House floor in February 2017 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)
State Rep. Allen Andrews, R-Grant City, presented the resolution on the House floor on Wednesday, honoring State Rep. J. Eggleston, R-Maysville.
“Representative Eggleston donated his kidney to a Michigan patient,” Andrews says. “The Michigan recipient’s friend then donated a kidney to another recipient, and that recipient’s friend donated their kidney to Representative Eggleston’s wife.”
Eggleston’s wife, Cathie, had suffered from kidney disease. She was in the House chamber in Jefferson City on Wednesday.
Eggleston urges you to consider organ donation, saying that about 100,000 people are on the waiting list for a new kidney.
“I’m told a little under half of our citizens do that, but you get a nice little heart on your driver’s license to let the world know that the last act that you may have would be to save the life of someone else,” says Eggleston.
Eggleston, who received a standing ovation from both sides of the aisle, says about 18,000 people receive a kidney transplant annually in the United States.
During his passionate floor speech, Eggleston notes that Hall of Fame baseball player Rod Carew suffered a massive heart attack in 2015.
“There was another young man, by coincidence also in athletics, in his 20s, had a brain aneurysm and died unexpectedly. Konrad Reuland was his name,” Eggleston says.
Eggleston notes Rod Carew received his new heart and kidney from Reuland, a former NFL player.
CBS Sports reported in April 2017 that this was believed to be the first organ transplant between two professional athletes.
Eggleston represents northwest Missouri’s Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry and Harrison counties in the House.