Seeking The Kindness Of Strangers

By Sheila Stroup

Randy Zell needs something that's difficult to come by, and he doesn't like to talk about it.

"It's hard enough for me to ask someone to give me a ride someplace," he said. "How am I going to say, 'By the way, I'm looking for a kidney.'"

I learned about Randy's plight in an e-mail from Karen Sher.

"My younger daughter is a sophomore at Newman School and is on the pole-vaulting team," she began. "Her coach is a young man named Randy Zell. Randy Zell is also a science teacher and is beloved by all the students because of his talent for teaching, his enthusiasm, his conscientiousness and his incredible dedication to his profession and his students."

She told me about his struggle with childhood diabetes, and she made me want to meet him.

A Lifetime Of Diabetes

We met in his classroom, a wonderfully distracting place filled with colorful charts and posters, eye-catching pictures of rat skeletons, and a sign that says, "Clones are people two."

Besides being the pole-vault and cross country coach, Randy, 33, teaches biology to freshmen, and genetics and human anatomy and physiology to juniors and seniors.

"Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by how our bodies work," he said.

Part of his interest came from growing up on a dairy farm in western New York, and part of it came from growing up with diabetes.

"I don't ever remember not being diabetic," he said. "I developed insulin-dependent diabetes when I was 2."

Unfortunately, after having the disorder for 31 years, some of its normal complications have sneaked up on him, including end-stage renal disease.

His first inkling that something was very wrong came last summer, when he began to have trouble running.

"I was used to doing 13-mile runs, and I couldn't make it to Audubon Park," he said.

Tests showed that his blood stream was full of toxins because his kidneys were failing. By October, he needed to be on dialysis.

"I was scared, mostly because of the unknowns," he said. "Was I going to have to quit my job? Would I not be able to run? What did the future hold for me?"

'Whatever It Takes'

Randy undergoes dialysis for 3 1/2; hours three times a week, but he still manages to keep up with his classes and coaching duties.

"It has meant me trying to be creative," he said. "And everyone at Newman has been terrific. They have a sort of 'whatever it takes' attitude."

He says he feels lucky in many ways: He has a job that's perfect for him, he is once again able to run down St. Charles Avenue, and he's living in a time when medical advances are made every day.

"If you have to have this disorder, now is the time to have it," he said.

His kidney failure has progressed so far that last month he was put on the organ donor list, which means that if an organ donor dies and is a successful match, he might get a new kidney and pancreas.

His most crucial need now, though, is a kidney, and the odds of a successful transplant are better with a live donor.

There are several steps to being a match. For Randy, the first is for someone to have Type A or Type O blood, either positive or negative.

Randy is an only child, and nobody in his family or among his friends is a match, so I'll say what he is reluctant to say: By the way, he needs a kidney.

"I struggle with the idea of a live donor because I'd be indebted to that person for the rest of my life," he said. "But I have to think about if it was reversed, because I'd do it for a friend of mine without a second thought."

. . . . . . .

If you'd like to see if you're a match, call (504) 588-5344, the organ transplant center at Tulane University Hospital, and leave a message saying you read about Randy Zell and want to be tested.

Sheila Stroup can be reached at sstroup@timespicayune.com or (985) 898-4831.

Copyright © 2003 NOLA.com.

This article posted May 11, 2003.