By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
Some 4,000 New Jersey residents are currently awaiting life-saving organ transplants.
According to the NJ Sharing Network headquartered in New Providence, over 100,000 people in the United States are waiting for organ donations and tens of thousands more need tissue or corneal transplants. Statistics show one organ and tissue donor can save eight lives and enhance the lives of over 75 others. Waiting lists are long, with about 17 people dying daily while awaiting lifesaving transplants. Transplantable organs include the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and intestine. Transplantable tissue includes corneas, heart valves, skin grafts, bone grafts, saphenous veins, ligaments and tendons.
Recently joining the list is Gerald “Jerry” Turning, former Tinton Falls police chief and mayor, who discovered he needed a new kidney after suffering a heart attack.
Driving his 18-year-old grandson Eric home from a day at Sesame Place last June, Jerry, 69, felt shooting pains in his arm, Turning’s wife Barbara said. Upon arrival at his son’s house, Jerry Jr. saw his father was ill and drove him to Jersey Shore Medical Center where three stents were placed in the elder Turning’s heart. Due to his family history of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), doctors performed an ultrasound and found kidney cysts “as big as grapefruits,” Barbara said. The Mayo Clinic defines PKD as a genetic disorder in which cysts develop primarily within the kidneys, causing the organs to enlarge and lose function over time.
Jerry’s kidneys are at 17 percent functionality, said Barbara, adding he will need dialysis if that number falls below 15 percent. The Turnings, who relocated to an adult community in Barnegat, Ocean County, over two years ago, are now seeking a live donor.
According to the American Kidney Fund, on aver-age, deceased donor kidney 20 years. The kidney is one transplants last 10 to 15 organ that can come from a years while living kidney living donor; a person can donor transplants last 15 to donate one of their kidneys and lead a fully functional life with the remaining one. Other organs suitable for living donation include the liver, pancreas and intestine – in those instances, a portion of the organ is removed from the donor – or even one lung, according to organdonor.gov.
Longevity is particularly important to the Turnings, as Jerry Sr. is “best friend” to Eric, who has autism. The pair take regular jaunts through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and New York to visit Chuckie Cheese locations, aquariums and more, where Eric revels in interacting with costumed characters. The teen is a VIP at Sesame Place with a season pass, preferred parking, and a badge. He has appeared in a commercial for the attraction and was interviewed about it by NBC’s Lester Holt.
The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), certified Sesame Place as an Autism Center in 2018.
“I need Jerry to be there for Eric,” said Barbara. “His grandchildren consider him their hero and Eric relies on his Pop-Pop.” The couple has two adult children and four grandchildren. Both children also have PKD, as do Jerry Sr.’s siblings, disqualifying them as donors. Barbara has diabetes, eliminating her as a donor, and the grandchildren can’t be tested until after age 35. Three people have come forward to donate so far, including a woman who saw a Facebook post about Jerry’s condition and an 87-year-old relative. Both were disqualified, as was another person who needed both his kidneys to combat his own heart disease.
“The doctor at Saint Barnabas Medical Center said it could be at least two years for a cadaver kidney,” Barbara said. “They don’t tell you if anyone is testing. They wait until it’s a good donor prospect. Jerry follows a strict diet and goes for bloodwork monthly because he must always have updated information in case a donor is found.”
“It has never been in my character to ask for help but unfortunately, I find myself in a position of great need,” Jerry said. “I know what I am asking for is more than a helping hand and recognize the life-changing sacrifice I am hoping to find from someone. My path went from thinking I was perfectly healthy, to recuperating from a serious heart attack, to being placed on a kidney transplant list in one day.”
Carolyn M. Welsh, president and CEO of NJ Sharing Network, a federally designated nonprofit organization responsible for the recovery of donated organs and tissue in the state, said the number of organ donors (283) and organs transplanted in a single year (670) reached all-time highs in 2022. This also marked the fourth consecutive year the organization reported new records in the number of Garden State organ donors.
“Less than 1% of people who die in a hospital can be an organ donor,” Welsh said. “We have developed strategic plans for growth that include adding talent, resources and programs to facilitate the donor process, support donor families, and increase our robust multicultural outreach and education efforts.”
“This is about awareness,” Barbara Turning said. “We never knew anything about organ donation.” She took a fourhour virtual seminar on “how to champion” for her husband, which resulted in a short video on Jerry Sr.’s quest created by her granddaughter.
A graduate of Neptune High School, Jerry Sr. began his law enforcement career there and worked his way up in the Tinton Falls Police Department where he served for 35 years, almost 10 as chief. After four years as borough administrator, he served one term as mayor, beginning in 2014. Jerry Jr. is also a retired Tinton Falls police officer.
To learn more and register as an organ and tissue donor, visit njsharingnetwork.org, livingdonors.org, livingdonorassistance.org, and donatelife.net or email sbmclivingdonor@rwjbh.org.
The article originally appeared in the April 6 – 12, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
