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Peer-reviewed article

Going Public, Moving Forward

This chapter looks at how the author and Deb Porter Gill decided to go public on social media about their match. The chapter narrates the people's reactions upon hearing their story, most either thought the author was a living saint or a…

By John D. LantosJanuary 1, 20211 min readin Cornell University Press eBooks

This chapter looks at how the author and Deb Porter Gill decided to go public on social media about their match. The chapter narrates the people's reactions upon hearing their story, most either thought the author was a living saint or a misguided fool. It also inspired some of their acquaintances to share their own family stories about kidney disease, organ donation, and other medical miracles. Some talked about the health problems that regrettably meant they could never donate. The chapter also mentions the <italic>Kansas City Jewish Chronicle's</italic> update to Deb's story, which launched quite a bit of quiet speculation in the Kansas City Jewish community about who had been identified as Deb's match.

Originally published at Cornell University Press eBooks · January 1, 2021.

About the author

John D. Lantos is a pediatrician and bioethicist writing on AI in medicine, neonatal intensive care, and end-of-life decisions. His essays appear in JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Aeon. Read more about John.

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