Longtime customer becomes kidney donor for LI restaurant manager in need of transplant
LONG ISLAND (WABC) -- A longtime manager of a popular restaurant on Long Island told one of his loyal customers that he has kidney disease and is in need of a transplant. It turns out that the customer is a perfect match.
"There are angels amongst us. Just got to find them," David Geliashvili said.
David Geliashvili found his angel and is now back on his feet after a life-saving surgery last month.
55-year-old Susanne Deegan from Sea Clipp donated her kidney.
"I would do it all over again in a heartbeat," Deegan said.
Geliashvili was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease in December of 2024.
"I start feeling awkward. Flu like symptoms. And at some point, it was so bad, I lost my appetite," Geliashvili said.
He started working with North Shore University Hospital and its living donors ambassador program to find a match.
It was a chance encounter with a long-time friend that opened doors for Geliashvili.
Deegan was with her family at a restaurant that Geliashvili manages when he shared the bad news.
"It just came out of my mouth. I said, I'll get tested," Deegan said.
"All of sudden Light at the end of the tunnel," Geliashvili said.
That was in September, and in February, Deegan found out she was an approved match.
About 20 percent of all kidney transplants involve a living donor, according to the National Institutes of Health.
About a quarter of those transplants are what's called an unrelated donation, making this connection extra special.
"Patients who work with our living donor ambassador program are 2.8 times more likely to have a living donor register. We know that our patients are more likely to live longer lives, with living donor kidneys," Elliot Grodstein with Northwell Transplant Institute said.
The ambassador program works to dispel myths about living donorship.
"It's two nights in a hospital, very small, minimally invasive surgery on the Scarlett's through the belly button," Grodstein said.
The single dad avoided the harsh reality for some of being on a waitlist for years.
He is grateful for his friend now turned family and a new outlook on life.
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