Community Corner

Essex County Mother Saves Stranger’s Life With Kidney Donation

A West Orange resident and employee at Seton Hall University made an inspiring, selfless donation to an ailing North Hudson fire captain.

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Ask Steve Trevelise of New Jersey 101.5 what the greatest moment in his radio career is, and he’ll likely give you a quick reply: helping to save the life of his oldest friend.

It was last June when North Hudson Fire Captain Robbo Pisani first put out the call for a kidney donation on an episode of Trevelise’s show. Little did the Union City natives know that they were about to meet an unexpected lifeline: West Orange resident and mother of two, Melissa Kohlman. (Read the full article here)

Kohlman, the secretary of the Math and Computer Science Department at Seton Hall University, was listening to the broadcast during her seven-minute ride home. And although Pisani was a complete stranger, she knew that putting her own well-being at risk “was the right thing to do.”

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The surgery was performed Wednesday, Nov. 7 at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey 101.5 reported.

“Melissa is an angel among us,” Marie Morgievich of St. Barnabas told New Jersey 101.5. “She was very willing and open.”

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Impressed by this inspiring example of human compassion? Check out the below story of 29 strangers who started one of the largest kidney donation transplant chains in the U.S. at the same hospital that performed Pisani’s procedure.

READ>> 29 Strangers Donate Kidneys To Each Other In Essex County

Listen to New Jersey 101.5’s broadcast about the donation below. Those interested in donating can contact the Living Donor Institute at St. Barnabas and fill out its Living Donor Referral Form.

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Photo: YouTube / New Jersey 101.5

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