Joliet Father Gives Gift of Life to Sick Son

Photo: Timothy Webb holds on to his child, Brian, while in the hospital. (Provided by Samantha Webb.)

JOLIET, IL — When your child is sick, a parent will do anything they can to help. But one father did more than just make chicken noodle soup. He gave his kidney.

When Joliet resident Samantha Webb was pregnant with her son Brian, she was told he would be born with renal failure and wouldn’t make it a day after being born. In fact, she was advised to terminate her pregnancy.

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It wasn’t an easy decision to make: go through the pain of childbirth just to lose her boy or abort the pregnancy. After much consideration and discussion with her husband and the boy’s father, Timothy Webb, Samantha decided to keep her unborn child.

“He’s 3 years old now,” Samantha said. “He just received a kidney from his father in August.”

Brian wasn’t able to receive a new kidney right away. Doctors needed to wait until he was big enough to hold the full-sized organ. He stayed in the hospital for six to seven months after he was born. When he came home, he had to go through dialysis every day and take a variety of medications.

“He had to have enough room to fit the kidney in,” Samantha said.

Doctors advised Samantha on the kidney-transplant process. They told her they would start with family members to see if anyone was a match. If there were no family members, they would be placed on a list.

That’s when Timothy was tested.

“He was a match and we went on from there,” Samantha said.

Despite the match, there was still the wait, which Samantha said was hard for Brian. But she found a silver lining in the fact that this was all Brian knew. He didn’t grow up leading a typical life for a child.

“He had to go on dialysis for a few hours every night,” she said. “It was hard on him. We usually had to hook him up around 7 p.m. and he would come off around 7 a.m. He don’t like it because he would have to go to bed earlier than his brothers and sisters. It was easier for him being born with it, though. He didn’t have to go from being a normal baby to having to readjust for the sickness.”

But now that he has the kidney, he’s doing “wonderfully,” Samantha said.

“He’s always hungry. He didn’t eat before,” she said. “He eats full meals like a regular kid. Before he was on the feeding machine because he wouldn’t eat the food by mouth. He’s growing, he’s happier. It’s just amazing.”

But because of the kidney issue, he does still have some medical problems. He’s got high blood pressure and is developmentally a little behind in speech, but the family is hoping to get him enrolled in school soon.

Throughout all this, Timothy maintained a solid supportive presence. There was no hesitation on his part.

“He was ready to do it right away,” she said.

Timothy was unable to be interviewed for this story because he is incarcerated. He was arrested on Nov. 18 and accused of selling drugs, according to Samantha, a charge the family is fighting.

“Our house was raided and he was taken to jail but they didn’t find anything,” she said. “It’s kind of been rough because the kids are used to him being home. But we’re hoping we can get this whole situation cleared up.”

Samantha has six kids plus a step-daughter from Timothy. Even without the surgery, providing for the children has been costly. Legal costs for Timothy have also added up. But Samantha said she’s been making it work and has been working as much as she can to pay the hospital, legal and household bills.

“Right now I’m the only one working and I couldn’t work while they were both in the hospital so I missed maybe three weeks of work,” she said. “But I’m maintaining. It’s tight, but I’m able to do it. I work a lot of overtime at my job.”