Looking Forward to Giving Tuesday, San Diegan Grateful for Gift of Life

San Diego resident Tom Krumenacker urged people to find some way of giving this Tuesday, perhaps by registering to become an organ donor

For weeks, people have been preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but far fewer have been thinking about this week’s Giving Tuesday.

Tom Krumenacker wants people to think about it, because it might save someone’s life.

The 4S Ranch resident said someone special saved his life 15 years ago when she donated part of liver. Krumenacker, a financial planner at UBS in San Diego, had a genetic liver disease that was going to kill him if he did not get a transplant.

Krumenacker’s O minus blood type made finding a match even harder, in fact it was a one in 2.5 million chance, he said.

Almost miraculously, his sister-in-law Heather Walsh was a perfect match and more than willing to share some of her liver.

“If Tom needed my kidney tomorrow, I would give it to him,” said Walsh, a Virginia resident.

Liver specialist Dr. John Person said one of the beauties of the liver is someone can donate up to half to someone else and it will regenerate.

Krumenacker has been healthy and grateful ever since his surgery and urged people to find some way of giving this Tuesday, perhaps by registering to become an organ donor. You can learn about how to do that here.

According to Dr. Person, one person can save multiple lives when they donate their organs.

Stories like Krumenacker’s happen all over the world thanks to simple human generosity, which is what Giving Tuesday hopes to generate more of.

You can find ways to give back in your community with the Giving Tuesday website’s directory.

"GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world on December 3, 2019 and every day," the website says.

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