Waterford — Resident Hilary Baude said donating a kidney was the easiest decision she ever made.

Baude, a kindergarten teacher at Mary Morrisson Elementary School in Groton, was watching the news on New Year’s Eve when she saw a segment about CBS Executive Marc Weiner’s search for a kidney donation.

As she watched, she said she connected with Weiner’s story. Baude and her family had experienced their own struggles when their oldest daughter, now 8, was born prematurely at 2 pounds, 3 ounces. Her daughter spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit and had open heart surgery at five months old. Later, the family experienced another struggle when her husband was diagnosed with cancer.

Baude said she remembers the kindness her family received when her daughter and husband were fighting for their health. The community rallied behind the family, donating meals, gas cards for trips back and forth to the NICU and gift cards to the grocery store.

Today, both her daughter and her husband are healthy, and Baude wanted to pay forward that support and kindness to help someone in need.

She said the difference between her family and Weiner’s was that her family’s prayers had been answered, while he was still searching. Baude, who has two young daughters, also felt a connection to Weiner, who is the father of a teenaged girl.

She decided that she would donate her kidney, whether to Weiner or someone else.

Baude said she knew that she had the ability to donate without any long-term effects on her health. A marathon runner, Baude talked to several athletes that have done Ironman Triathalons and ultramarathons following donations.

Working through the National Kidney Registry, Baude said she was fortunate she did not have any of the conditions that make it difficult for people who want to donate to family members, such as high blood pressure or a history of cancer. She passed her baseline health screening and then had a day of in-depth testing to ensure she was healthy enough to donate. She said the process took both her physical and mental health into consideration and making sure the procedure was safe for her, which was her number one concern as a mother and a wife.

She said an initial crossmatch test found she and Weiner were compatible. However, after further talks with the hospital, she became aware of a situation called a kidney chain and decided to proceed with a "chain" of people receiving kidneys designed to ensure everyone received the best possible match, she said.

Baude donated her kidney directly to a man in Washington, D.C., who is doing well after the transplant. The man’s daughter, who wanted to give to her father but was not a match, is next in the chain to donate to someone else. The chain could then end there or continue. Typically kidney chains have on average about four or five people.

As a result of her donation, Weiner received a "voucher" for a kidney, she said.

Weiner said he was diagnosed in 2015 with bladder cancer and had surgery to remove his kidneys, bladder and prostate due to the aggressive bladder cancer. He has been on dialysis three times a week since. His cancer luckily did not return and he has been pursuing a kidney.

A former employer of his wife, who is in the marketing and advertising industry, donated an electronic 5,000-square-foot billboard in Times Square to help his search. He also shared his story on a website, helpmarcfindakidney.com.

About 500 people stepped forward. While there wasn’t a match, one of those people, New York City Detective Michael Lollo, ended up donating a kidney to someone else, ultimately saving a Pennsylvania woman’s life.

“I am blessed that complete strangers like Detective Lollo and like Hilary wanted to donate to me,” Weiner said. “They didn’t know me from Adam but they wanted to give. I’m blown away. I’m ecstatic and the idea that they donated kidneys to two other strangers like myself makes me feel proud.”

While he is still searching for a kidney donor, he said he knows his time will come. Weiner said that since he does not have a bladder, he needs to have a procedure to get ready for a kidney transplant and then heal three months and then have the transplant. Weiner said he hopes to find a match and that the match will be able to fit that timetable.

He said the voucher from Baude will send an algorithm to all kinds of people who want to donate and raise his chances of receiving a kidney.

People interested in donating a kidney to Weiner can visit www.helpmarcfindakidney.com for more information.

Statistics show that 13 people die every day waiting for a kidney, according to the National Kidney Donation Organization.

According to the U.S Government Information on Organ Donation website, almost 6,000 transplants from a living donor to a recipient occur each year. A kidney donation is the most common donation from a living donor.

Other living donations include part of the liver, a lung or part of the lung, and a portion of the pancreas and a portion of the intestines, as well as tissues, including skin, blood and bone marrow, according to the website.

Weiner emphasized the importance of the living donor program. A family member, for example, who wants to donate a kidney to a loved one but finds out they are not a match, can still donate to someone else, such as a stranger, and will live just as comfortably on one kidney as on two. The selfless act will save or extend somebody’s life.

“I’ll feel a connection to Hilary for the rest of my life and beyond,” Weiner said, adding that he feels a similar connection to Lollo and his kidney recipient — and he looks forward to learning more about whom Baude donated to.

Baude returns to the classroom 

Baude’s surgery and medical expenses were covered by her recipient’s insurance, and she was released after one night in the hospital, or about 36 hours, she said.

She said her employer, Groton Public Schools, was very supportive. She was on two weeks' medical leave, then worked half-time as a precautionary measure — since she has a high-energy job and was getting tired in the afternoons —  and is scheduled to return full-time on Monday. 

Four weeks after surgery, she is back to running and feels great, she said on Friday, and almost forgets that the surgery even occurred.

Baude said she wants her story to give other people hope and inspire them to pay it forward, whether in a big or small way.

“I went into it to help someone else, but the gifts that I’ve received have been far beyond my expectations,” she said.

She said she’s amazed “at the connections that we can make with people that we don’t know and the ability that we have to lift each other up.”

To become a kidney donor, people can sign up at the National Kidney Registry website at Kidneyregistry.org.

More information is available at The National Kidney Donor Organization website NKDO.org and the National Kidney Foundation at kidney.org.

k.drelich@theday.com