On December 13th, Omar Danso began to feel sick. His mother had planned to take him to the doctor, but at the time he wasn't overly worried. She choked his feelings into food allergies or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
However, when the seventh grader at Piscataway couldn't stop vomiting in two days, she was worried and took her to emergency care nearby. By the next day, Omar was taken to the emergency room at St. Peter University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he had empty blood pressure. His parents then heard the news that they had shocked them – their son had end-stage renal failure.
His kidneys had stopped working.
“I felt like I had knocked out the wind out of myself, and I didn't expect that,” said Jasmine Eversley Danso, Omar's mother. “I was shocked and frankly devastating. I was about to leave the room and he didn't see my reaction.”
Omar needed a blood transfusion and immediately began dialysis. Dialysis involves filtering the blood and doing a job that his kidneys can no longer do. He spent two weeks in the pediatric intensive care unit, connected to a hemodialysis machine via a tube in his neck, taking multiple medications to lower his blood pressure.
Omar is now home and stable, but his fight continues. Omar requires a kidney transplant.
To raise awareness about Omar's brave battles and general organ donation, the Danso Family is holding Omar Danso's Fun Day at Riverside Park on April 26th from 10am to 2pm. The rainy day will be on April 27th.
April is also the National Donation Life Month.
“We just really want to celebrate how far we came with him and how we walked and ran around the park,” said Eversley-Danso, counselor Nancy Arvizzigno at Schor Middle School and John Tierney, director of recreation at Piscataway Township Recreation, who helped her sort her out.
“There was a very positive response to the event,” Albizinho said. “And the students were holding that they missed seeing Omar in their class.”
Omar's illness and absence have had a major impact on the Schor School community, from teachers and staff to students.
“Omar is a great guy – he deserves kidneys,” said classmate Noah Jenkins. “From the bottom of your heart, someone there should give Omar to your kidneys.”
Kari Hester, Omar science teacher at Shoal, called him “a man of incredible power and resilience.”
“In spite of what he's going through, he continues to show courage, determination and positive attitude,” Hester said. “I am confident that with the support of his family and community, he will overcome this obstacle and appear stronger and healthier than ever before.”
On Omar Danso's fun day, 5K fun runs and Walk, DJ, Food and Tables feature tables with healthcare information from the NJ Shared Network and Cooperman Barnabas Transplant Center in Livingston, spread awareness and dispel myths about organ donation.
“People in the community may not understand the importance of donating organs or taking them to licenses and the number of lives they can save,” Eversley-Danso said.
There is also a station for blood pressure screening.
“That's what led us down this path,” Eversley Danso said. “If we hadn't known his blood pressure was that high, we wouldn't have known anything else. I want to see people become more proactive in their health.
Eversley-Danso is working with Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, home to the Northeast Kidney Transplant Program, to find donors and prepare for transplants. She began the process of being tested for donations on April 2nd.
“We've been here,” Eversley-Danso said. “We need to get to the transplant. I know TheTransplant presents its own challenges. It takes a little time, judging from the laundry list of tests I passed through Togo and depending on how others can move forward to get started with that test.”
Living donors are highly preferred over the deceased, but all potential donors need to undergo a series of tests to see if it is appropriate. Not only should Omar's O-positive blood types be matched, but donations should also be considered healthy enough to not impose atrisk.
Cooperman Barnabas' transplant program has another team of doctors, nurses and social workers who only seek donor benefits.
There is also a way to donate through Apea's donation, even if someone doesn't match Omar's blood type. The transplant center can match another donor/recipient pair, so Omar donor can give another recipient a kidney, and that recipient's donor can give an Akidney, a match with Omar.
“I don't hesitate to donate, but I have other kids. And I might not be able to do what I want to do in my mind, not an invalid match,” Eversley-Danso said.
Anyone who wants to know that he will become a living donor can secretly email cooperman barnabas at cbmclivingdonor@rwibh.org. cbmclivingdonor.org. You are not obligated to donate if you ask for information or fill out a donor survey. Although the battle for Omar was difficult for his family, they also found a new network of support for Piscataway and the organ donation community.
“To be honest, I'm hanging from the thread,” said Eversley Danso, a 2004 Piscataway High School graduate. “But surprisingly, I have gotten this burst of energy over the past few weeks because I am planning this event with my school counselor.
While he awaits the transplant and celebration, Omar continues to fight like a champion.
“He was very strong,” Eversley Danso said. “I can't imagine. When I was 12, I put out my tonsils and you would have thought I was going to die. I'm a normal 13 year old and I'm not sick or hospitalized and I'm really fighting and saying, 'I want to stay here, I want to stay here.'
Omar uses peritoneal dialysis, which is abdominal dialysis. It uses abdominal, abdominal lining to remove waste and excess liquid from the blood. He is engrossed at home every night through a catheter in his abdomen, and while he sleeps, the machine does the work.
Between his treatment and his medication – after leaving the hospital, they become two – Omar enjoys playing games, hugging the dog, a cabapoo named Peanuts, and catching up to his studies through lessons on virtual Zoom.
