Principal John Jordan '80 Featured for Gift of Organ Donation
Every day, lives are saved and improved by the gift of life, sight and health. Roughly 114,552 people are waiting for an organ. One of those individuals was Mike Hare '79. Last fall, Archmere principal John Jordan '80 found out his former schoolmate, 1979 graduate Mike Hare, needed a kidney transplant for the second time in his life. Mike was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure in 1992, when he was just 31 years old. He spent more than seven years on dialysis before receiving his first kidney transplant in 2001. He returned to the transplant list for five years and remained on it for five years until Mr. Jordan offered one of his own kidneys. Mike Lang of The Dialog interviewed the two schoolmates on Archmere's campus, highlighting Mike Hare's perspective on their first transplant conversation, and revealing that the motivating force behind John Jordan's decision to donate his kidney was the death of Anthony Penna '19.
“It was difficult to communicate because it was such an emotional discussion, certainly for me because of how humbling it was. It’s difficult to talk about it now. John mentioned the Pennas. The Penna death had such a profound impact on anybody human, but certainly everybody connected with Archmere.”
On June 5, 2018, Principal John Jordan and Mike Hare underwent kidney transplant surgery. Mr. Jordan recovered quickly, out of work for a little over a week before slowly returning to his position. Initially Mike Hare felt fine, but experienced complications that required an additional operation before returning to normal activities. They are both healthy and recovered, and John Jordan now participates in Jefferson Hospital’s “Kidney Champions” program, spreading the word about the need for donations.
To read the full article and interviews in The Dialog, click here.
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“It was difficult to communicate because it was such an emotional discussion, certainly for me because of how humbling it was. It’s difficult to talk about it now. John mentioned the Pennas. The Penna death had such a profound impact on anybody human, but certainly everybody connected with Archmere.”
On June 5, 2018, Principal John Jordan and Mike Hare underwent kidney transplant surgery. Mr. Jordan recovered quickly, out of work for a little over a week before slowly returning to his position. Initially Mike Hare felt fine, but experienced complications that required an additional operation before returning to normal activities. They are both healthy and recovered, and John Jordan now participates in Jefferson Hospital’s “Kidney Champions” program, spreading the word about the need for donations.
To read the full article and interviews in The Dialog, click here.
Archmere Academy is a private, Catholic, college preparatory co-educational academy,
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.
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