‘Laker for a Day’ Facebook video inspires man to donate his kidney

His father ’s failing health weighed on his mind every day. Brian Gilliam, a shoe salesman at Nordstrom, had been watching his dad, Dana, 69, slowly deteriorate from end stage kidney disease for more than two years. His father endured daily, 12-hour dialysis treatments while he waited for a kidney donation.“Watching my dad go through this was not easy,” said Brian, 48, who lives in the city of Westminster in Orange County. “He was always a strong guy and we were watching him lose his drive through all of it.”Brian and his wife, Roxie, started seriously discussing the idea of Brian donating a kidney to his dad.  “I was thankful that he wanted to donate his kidney but I was mindful of what that might do to him,” Dana said. “But he was very plain about what he wanted to do.”Once Brian made the decision to donate, he said he noticed little signs reinforcing his choice starting popping up —a reference to kidney donation on a TV show, something he heard on the radio, a news story about asurgeon donating to a colleague.Then came the biggest sign.An avid Los Angeles Lakers fan, Brian always watched the team ’s social media feeds. He was casually scrolling his Facebook page when he sawa video about a woman named Dawn Dorland Perry, who was being recognized as aLaker for a Day in February 2017 by the team and its health partner, UCLA Health, for donating her  kidney to a stranger.As it turned out, she and Brian ’s dad shared the same surgical team at UCLA....
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news