DALLAS – A viral TikTok post did more than rack up views, it helped save a life.
After seeing a Cedar Hill man’s plea for a kidney, a Houston woman answered the call.
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Viral TikTok plea leads to life-saving kidney donor
What we know:
Ishmael Thorns of Cedar Hill was facing kidney failure when he turned to TikTok in a last-ditch effort to find a donor.
“My blood type is B positive. You know what I’m saying. I got two young sons. I’m in the Dallas area. I need a kidney, man. Share this post,” Thorns said in the video.
A rare tumor on Thorns’ adrenal gland caused high blood pressure for years. No one in his family was a match, and having the relatively rare B-positive blood type made it more difficult to find a donor.
Brandy Laman, a pharmacist in Houston, saw the video and immediately reached out.
“I just really saw this as an opportunity to help someone in a life-changing way,” Laman said. “A similar situation happened with our family. My husband was diagnosed with leukemia in 2024, and he actually received a bone marrow transplant from a gentleman in Germany. So I just really wanted to pay it forward.”
Kidney transplant surgery
Dig deeper:
On July 7, Dr. Christie Gooden at Methodist Dallas Medical Center successfully performed the kidney transplant.
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“This is one of the reasons I went into transplant, because of stories like this, because there’s so much more that we have in common than we don’t,” Gooden said.
About two and a half weeks after surgery, Thorns said he is grateful for his second chance at life.
“I’m feeling great. I feel rejuvenated. I feel like a new man. I feel grateful to start this new chapter of my life,” he said.
Thorns called Laman “my hero.”
“She’s my hero, an angel sent straight from God to bless me with a new chance at life,” Thorns said.
Looking for a living kidney donor
What’s next:
Thorns said his advice to others waiting for a transplant is not to be afraid to put themselves out there and ask for help.
Doctors also said patients do not always have to find a direct match to receive a transplant. Hospitals can coordinate paired kidney donations, allowing incompatible donor-recipient pairs to exchange kidneys with other pairs so more patients can receive a transplant.
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