An “angel advocate” pilot seeks living kidney donors via social media

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Fernando Moreno has been on dialysis for about two years, waiting for a kidney transplant and calling the wait “unbearable.” In his account, Moreno’s limited social contacts left him hoping mainly for progress on the national waiting list, but that changed when a Philadelphia hospital connected him with a pilot project earlier this year.

The program pairs patients with volunteer strangers described as “angel advocates,” Good Samaritans scattered around the country who use their own social media contacts to share a patient’s story. Los Angeles filmmaker David Krissman, the founder, has named the effort “the Great Social Experiment.” Moreno is among 15 patients in the pilot that began in May at three Pennsylvania hospitals, with the project testing whether motivated volunteers can improve the odds of finding a life-saving living-donor match—especially for people who have limited social networks.

Moreno hopes for someone “willing to take a chance”

So far, the Great Social Experiment has not found Moreno a living kidney donor, but Moreno said the approach has given him new optimism. “This process is great,” Moreno said, adding that he was “just hoping there will be somebody out there that’s willing to take a chance.” Moreno is 50, and he said his father died of kidney failure at 65.

Krissman said the program is designed to address a practical barrier: patients who need transplants often can’t do the outreach themselves. “We know how this has always been done, and we’re trying to put that on steroids and really get them the help that they need,” Krissman said. “Most patients are too sick to do this on their own — many don’t have the skills to do it on their own.”

Gift of Life supports the pilot and looks for a blueprint

The Gift of Life Donor Program, which serves as the organ procurement network for eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, is supporting the pilot with a grant of more than $100,000 from its foundation. Gift of Life is also backing a broader effort that the program’s organizers said is intended to study the approach and potentially publish results.

Ryan Ihlenfeldt, director of clinical transplant services at Temple University Hospital, said two of the five patients in the program through Temple had found kidney donors and one was preparing for surgery. He also said one of the five patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Harrisburg has undergone a transplant.

Richard Hasz Jr., Gift of Life’s chief executive, said the program is new and that the foundation is interested in creating a “blueprint” based on outcomes. Hasz said, “This is the first of its kind that I’m aware of,” and added that “I’m just hoping there will be somebody out there that’s willing to take a chance.” He said the foundation was interested in “studying it and hopefully publishing it — so we can create that blueprint, if you will, for the future.”

Hasz said the approach combines social media outreach with Krissman’s storytelling and efforts to mobilize the patients’ own connections, saying, “We know that patients who are waiting don’t always have the energy or the resources to do this themselves.”

Learning from earlier efforts and aiming to “snowball”

Krissman’s work grew out of his own experience with chronic illness about two decades ago, during which he said he was debilitated for more than a year before medication helped him recover