In 1977, Barbara became ill. She was fatigued, her legs swelled, and she was diagnosed as being in kidney failure. She only had 33 percent kidney function. Two years later, when she was 39, Barbara was forced to stop working as a sales assistant because she had difficulty breathing and walking. She was given the option of kidney dialysis or a transplant: because both were relatively unknown, she chose dialysis. As a single mother of two children, she felt it was less of a risk than transplant.

Barbara remained on dialysis for 5˝ years. She waited until both of her children were over the age of 18 before going onto the kidney transplant list. She was on the list for three months, before receiving her transplant. After two months, Barbara had been called but another patient got the kidney because he was a better match. She says she wished him well.

As Barbara describes it, it was December 18, 1984—the first night of Chanukah. Barbara received a call from the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan at 3 a.m. to say the transplant center had an organ donor and a kidney. Her son, Robert, drove her to the hospital. But first, in cold and foggy weather, he had to find a gas station: Barbara had not filled the car with sufficient gas.

Barbara remained in the hospital for seven weeks. The kidney did not work for the first 3˝ months, and Barbara was placed back onto dialysis, even though medical tests could not find anything abnormal.

Barbara said she felt she needed to become independent of dialysis. “I finally refused to be dialyzed, and both my medical team and I were astounded to discover that my new kidney took over and began to work perfectly.”

Barbara, who has lived in Staten Island for 38 years, was 44 when she received her new kidney. And now, that she is 68, the same kidney is still functioning perfectly. At the time of her transplant her son, Robert, was 20; her daughter, Jodi, was 18. Currently, Robert (43), lives in New Jersey. He is married and has three children – two boys ages 13 and 11, and a daughter age 6˝. Jodi, now 41, lives in Manhattan. She too is married, and has two children – two boys ages 10 and 6˝.

Following her transplant, Barbara was able to work again. She started her own business, selling promotional and advertising specialties. Over the years, she has assisted the New York Organ Donor Network’s public education efforts by speaking as a transplant recipient at several hospitals about the need for more organ donors. She has also been a member of Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO) of Manhattan since 1993.


Barbara Bassi and her grandchildren, left to right: Justin, Tyler, Ashley, Chase and Robert