Kidney Donor Sought To Help Raymond Kilroy of Keyport, a Longtime Volunteer

Keyport's Raymond Kilroy has given back so much to the community, as a volunteer firefighter and first responder. This man, who has spent more than half of his life in service to this community in now in need of our help.

Friends and family are hoping to help locate a living kidney donor for him. 

"Ray", or "Chief" as he is known to most residents was diagnosed in 2011 with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). This deadly disease is partially the result of health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure. It is also hereditary. CKD has already taken the lives of three members of the Chief’s family. He lost his father, older brother and sister to this terrible disease.

Currently he is on dialysis three days a week, for four hours a day and still he works full-time for New Jersey Transit where he has been employed for twenty-eight years.

The Chief is on the deceased donor list for a new kidney. However, that list currently has 114,802 candidates, 73,023 of whom are on the active list. It could take years to find a match for the Chief. His best hope is to find a live donor match. His family has been tested and unfortunately all have been eliminated as potential donors.

Ray Kilroy is a thirty-five year member of Raritan Hose Company # 2 in Keyport’s volunteer fire department as well as Chaplain of the fire department for 32 years.

For the past 7 years he has served as the Bayshore Active Fire Chief’s Association Chaplain.

He is a Eucharistic Minister and a member of the Knights of Columbus Council # 12232 with Jesus the Lord Church, where he was Grand Knight in 1999-2000.

He is a certified first responder and ambulance driver for the Keyport First Aid Squad.

He comes from a family of dedicated volunteers. His daughter, Erin, is a member of Hook & Ladder Company # 1. She started her service in the cadet program at the age of fourteen.

His son, Anthony, is currently a cadet in the fire department where he also began at age fourteen.

For the past 25 years his wife, Eileen, has been an auxiliary member of Raritan Hose.

In 2008 Ray became Assistant Chief of Keyport’s fire department and in 2011 he became Chief.

I first met the Kilroy family in 2009 when they were having an issue with their pool. I liked them immediately. I got to know the entire family better when Ray became Chief. He would come to Borough Hall weekly on fire department business and would always stop by to say hi and ask about my family. It was during this time that I found out about his CKD and his dialysis. Most days he would come in with a big smile, but there were times when he looked tired and drawn. These are side effects of dialysis.

I would often ask him if there was anything I could do and each time he would tell me to wait. His family was being tested for compatibility and he would let me know if there was anything I could do. It was at the Fireman’s Fair this year that I heard the news that Eileen, the last possible donor in the family, was not a match for the Chief. She was devastated. My heart broke for them in that moment.

The Kilroys are good, kind people who would do anything in their power to help someone in need, which is why I am now trying to help them in their time of need. I am doing all I can to educate whomever I can about being a live donor.

When I went forward with this endeavor, I did some research to really learn about live donations. I am already on the donor list upon my death, but I never really put any thought into a live donation prior to this so I wanted to know more about it. Here are some facts about live donation:

There are more than 100,000 people currently waiting for an organ. This number changes daily.

Eighteen people will die each day while waiting for an organ.

There is NO cost to the donor’s family for organ or tissue donations.

There are two ways you can donate; a paired donation or exchange or a direct donation. A paired donation occurs when you wish to donate to someone but you are not compatible. In this case, you would be matched with another recipient and another donor would be matched with you.

In order to be a living donor, you must be in good over all physical and mental health.

How do you get started? First you would contact the candidate's transplant center. In Ray’s case that would be St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston @ 973-322-2286.

Once you have established that you would like to be a donor, you will start the evaluation process.

You would be put through a battery of tests ranging from blood & tissue typing, cross matching to determine how the candidate would react to your organ, antibody screening, blood tests to screen for transmissible diseases, urine tests, chest X-rays & EKGs, radiology testing, psychosocial and psychological evaluation to determine your mental health, gynecological exams ( for women) &  cancer screening. Determining your candidacy for live donation is a lengthy process, but a worth wile one. A living donor can save the live of a transplant candidate.

For more information on becoming a live donor, visit www.unos.org. This website is a great resource for both donors and recipients. I urge you to check the website for any questions you may have. The life you save could be the man who runs into a burning building while you and everyone else runs out.