Actor Gives Life to Colleague
Kidney donor Ryan Poole of Murray,
left, embraces recipient Paul Gibbs
of Kearns during a recent checkup
at Intermountain Medical Center.
Donor Ryan Poole, left, talks with
friend and kidney recipient Paul
Gibbs. Both are involved in theater productions. (Brendan Sullivan,
Deseret News)
While Gibbs, who has done theater since he was 14, didn't get to the audition, he did find through his two-year ordeal that there really are no people like show people — not when one of their own needs a lifesaving transplant.
Local actor Ryan Poole gave the gift of life to his former castmate, while the local theater community rallied in support.
"It speaks to the kind of person he (Gibbs) is," said Poole.
Gibbs, along with three siblings, was born with bilateral ureteral reflux and had kidney problems all his life.
"I had nine surgeries on my kidneys before I was 5," said Gibbs "For most people, it is corrected with one surgery."
In November 2007, Gibbs noticed he "had a strong tendency to get sick easily. Every four to six weeks I'd get flu-like symptoms. I'd be listless.
"I'd always lived with bad kidneys, but that had been a reality for so long that I didn't take it seriously."
Tests revealed he needed a transplant.
Then, one day Poole, who had appeared with Gibbs in a production of "You Can't Take It With You" at Hale Centre Theatre in 2004, contacted him and said, "I know this is going to be a long-shot, but I'd like to be tested to see if we're a match."
"I was touched but didn't expect anything to come out of it," Gibbs said.
Tests proved him wrong.
"We were as good a match as if we were siblings," Poole said. "I was surprised. To look at us ... we're distinctly different people. We don't look like a match for anything, ever."
Poole said his wife and fellow actor, Marissa, was "ultra-supportive," even though she was eight months pregnant at the time of the transplant. Poole also has 7-year-old triplets from a previous marriage.
"To have these people be willing to sacrifice for me was incredibly touching and humbling," Gibbs said.
The generosity didn't stop with Poole and the theater community: It stretched beyond the stage and into the audience.
During the last two weeks of Hale's production of "Treasure Island," actors went into the lobby to collect money for the transplant.
"We've only done this twice before," said Sally Deitlein, vice president and executive producer of HCT. "And it's just amazing. People were just reaching into their purses and wallets, looking for every ounce of change. One lady wrote a check for $200.
"It might be a few days in a hospital and 4 or 5 weeks convalescing. But my quality of life will not be affected," he said. "And Paul is an extraordinary guy — he's kind, funny and down-to-earth. One of the sweetest guys you'll ever want to meet."
"It's difficult to put into words," Gibbs said when asked about his donor. "Thank you for saving my life. I can never entirely repay what you've done for me. But I'll spend the rest of my life doing everything I can."
With the worst behind them, both men are home, tired, but healing and looking forward to getting back on stage.
Poole should go on about his life with no limitations. And the same can be said for Gibbs.
"One of Ryan's kidneys is better than my two ever were," Gibbs said. "I'll be able to have a remarkably normal life, and I couldn't be happier about it."
But he will have to take anti-rejection medications for the rest of his life. "It can be as much as rent for a two-bedroom apartment every month."
Gibbs' twin brother has set up www.kidney4paul.blogspot.com to accept donations and provide information on fundraising activities.
In the meantime, Gibbs is spending time with nieces and nephews. With his new kidney, he once again has the energy to play with them.
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