It was a “match made in heaven.”
Not only was the Badhs’ marriage a lasting partnership, but their kidneys were also a medical match, and this has given father-of-four Gurdial (Dale) Badh 25 years of good health.
In 1998, with four young children and Dale’s health deteriorating, Narinder Badh stepped up and offered to donate a “spare part,” namely one kidney
But being a medical match was one thing, the second part was recovery from surgery for both young parents.
Both Narinder and Dale told the Richmond News they were lucky to have extended family – from both sides of the family - to help look after a busy household.
To make living donations easier on the pocketbook, the Badhs are now encouraging employers to sign up for the “Circle of Excellence” and adapt work-leave policies to cover any employee who wants to be a living kidney donor.
Narinder took unpaid time-off from her teaching job in Vancouver while Dale took time-off from his real-estate business to recover from the surgery. But they recognize that’s a luxury not everyone can afford.
“That’s why I think it’s very, very important we get the employers to step up,” Dale said.
The recovery period from donating a kidney can be four to six weeks.
“There are some people who want to donate, but the financial cost is what deters them,” Dale said.
“You don’t want people not to donate a kidney just because of the financial strain,” Narinder added.
Employers can join “Circle of Excellence”
John Gill, a transplant nephrologist, is the founder of the Living Donor Circle of Excellence, a program that highlights companies that change their policies to allow paid time-off for their employees who are making a living kidney donation.
The recovery period is often not covered by employers’ work-leave policy, and donors will use vacation time or unpaid sick days, which can be a “significant financial cost,” he noted.
Furthermore, knowing the financial burden they might be placing on family or friends, people who need a kidney might be reluctant to approach loved ones for a living donation.
Gill said he believes there are many people who would donate a kidney but for the financial barriers.
It might be rare for an employer to ever have to let an employee take a long leave to donate a kidney – only 600 such transplants are done a year in Canada – but it sends a message of support and recognition of the societal importance of living donations, he explained.
“A living kidney donor restores somebody back to health,” Gill said. “That person can go back to work, function, contribute, raise their families, pay taxes - all those good things in society that happen when you restore somebody back to health.”
The Kidney Foundation and the Canadian Society of Transplantation, in conjunction with the American Transplantation Society, recognize the "trailblazing" companies that make these policy changes.
“They’re breaking down barriers to give a life-saving gift – how special is that,” Gill said.
This “Circle of Excellence” is meant to normalize kidney donation and make it equivalent to any other health issue such as breaking a leg, Gill said.
While it’s a no-brainer a person who breaks their leg gets time-off, donating a kidney is seen as something a donor is choosing to do, he added.
So far, in North America, 2.5 million employees are covered by Circle of Excellence employers with 152 companies participating.
This has resulted in 80 kidney donations being covered by paid leave.
Recently, Simon Fraser University, UBC and the B.C. provincial government have joined the Circle of Excellence.
Gill hopes companies of all sizes join in.
“We want mom and pop’s pizza shop and we want Microsoft – it doesn’t matter how big or small your company is, it’s really about changing our perception about this,” Gill said.
People who want to donate a kidney go through a rigorous medical process, Gill said, and therefore donating is an “exceedingly safe thing to do.”
In fact, the number of living donors who get kidney disease isn’t higher than the general population, he added. And, in the rare event that a living donor’s other kidney fails, they will go to the top of the waiting list for a new kidney.
