A South Bend father couldn’t watch his son suffer, so he donated his kidney

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) – Shannon Dobrucki couldn’t sit back and watch his son be ill, so he was tested to see if he was a match to son Nolan Dobrucki in August 2020.

Nolan Dobrucki’s parents noticed he had bruises on his neck and legs at 5 years old. They later learned he had a rare condition called severe aplastic anemia (SAA) when bone marrow doesn’t produce enough blood cells for the body.

When Nolan Dobrucki was first diagnosed, he spent nearly an entire year at Riley Hospital for Children.

Shannon Dobrucki says his son received a bone marrow transplant, but it led to other complications, and eventually, kidney failure. Nolan Dobrucki was on dialysis for nearly a decade and it soon became clear that a kidney transplant was his best option.

Shannon Dobrucki says there was no hesitation when deciding to donate his kidney after being a match because it was the fatherly thing to do.

“I actually had a chance to do it and you just do it. I don’t think of myself as a hero. I just did what I had to do. Unfortunately for me, it involved cutting an organ out of my body for my child, but it’s just what you have to do,” he said.

He told News 8 Nolan Dobrucki could never sleep over at a friend’s house, stay up too late or even play baseball without worrying about whether his port was protected enough.

Now, Nolan is 15 years old and is on the road to recovery.