RALEIGH — A nurse practitioner at UNC-Chapel Hill has gone above and beyond the call of duty for a patient she shares a close bond with: Her father.
78-year-old Larry Koch has spent the last 15 years battling kidney disease, WRAL in Raleigh reported.
Over the last summer, Koch was told his disease had progressed to stage 4 and his next treatment step would be 12 months of dialysis, WRAL reports. Koch, along with his family, was hesitant about spending a year on dialysis. His other option would be to wait on a transfer list for four to six years. But by the time Koch would make it up the list, he would be in his 80s and may not be eligible for a transplant.
Lauren Herlihy, Koch’s daughter, stepped forward without hesitation and offered one of her kidneys to her father.
“It wasn’t a choice for me, really. I didn’t want to see him go through his final decade in life on dialysis,” Herlihy told WRAL. “This was certainly a way to give him the best next 10, 15, 20 years.”
Koch told WRAL he was hesitant about the impact of the transplant on his daughter and her family. Now, the family views the day of the transplant as their own day of celebration.
“I was always a little concerned about what the impact on her would be. I didn’t want any risk,” Koch said. ″I’ll always remember March 21, just before my 78th birthday.”
Herlihy told WRAL that she has always been close with her father, but now they’re closer than ever.
Dr. Toledo, who performed the transplant, told WRAL that both Koch and Herlihy are doing well.
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