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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview with Kidney Donor Zell Kravinski

Aired August 02, 2003 - 09:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONNELL REID, KIDNEY RECIPIENT: Thank God I got this kidney. I never in my whole life could think that anybody like that exists. And then especially after meeting him, he just blew me away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Incredible words of gratitude from a woman with a new lease on life. Donnell Reid has a new kidney, thanks to a Pennsylvania man who already gave away $15 million, but wanted to do more.

The man with the big heart and one less kidney is Zell Kravinski. He shares his story with us live this morning.

Good morning to you. I appreciate you being here with us. We can't wait to hear how you came about this decision.

ZELL KRAVINSKI, KIDNEY DONOR: It's great to be back on the show.

COLLINS: Tell me, tell me, what led you in this direction? What made you want to do this? Even after all of the huge charity gifts that you have given in your life.

KRAVINSKI: Well, I felt that wasn't enough. I felt that if I wish to be a better person, and if I wish to benefit the world, then I should respond to every call to the extent that I can, under the theory that anyone deserves something that they can use better than I can, whether I own it or not.

COLLINS: How long have you been waiting to donate a kidney?

KRAVINSKI: I've been thinking about it for a few years and following the growing kidney shortage. And I had promised myself that, as a treat to myself, when I finished giving the money away, as a sort of a gift, a reward, or incentive, that I would give my kidney away.

And I approached a few hospitals who were reluctant to do it, to my surprise, because, unfortunately, it's a very rare thing, and I hadn't supposed that in the beginning. I thought that there must be tens of thousands of people who were answering this need every year by donating their kidneys...

COLLINS: And we know for a fact that...

KRAVINSKI: ... to strangers.

COLLINS: That's right. We know for a fact there aren't. A lot of people in need of kidney transplants. Did they try to talk you out of it?

KRAVINSKI: They did their best to talk me out of it at the hospital where I gave the kidney. There was a lot of suspecting of my motives. I remember in the beginning, one of the surgeons asked me what I did for a living and what I had done in the past year. And I told him I had given $15 million away. And he sent me to a psychiatrist...

COLLINS: Really?

KRAVINSKI: ... under the suspicion I might be grandiose.

COLLINS: OK. Well, I'm glad you are genuine about this. Obviously, you have gone through the operation. Now, tell us a little bit about how you decided who, or at least what group of people, you were trying to help.

KRAVINSKI: Well...

COLLINS: You did some research on this, and you made a very distinct choice.

KRAVINSKI: It wasn't my full determination who exactly would be the recipient. But I approached a particular hospital, Albert Einstein in Philadelphia, whose population bases largely low-income African-Americans, because I feel that they're the ones who are most in need.

African-Americans, as you know, have genetic tendencies to some of the diseases that are interrelated with kidney failure, such as diabetes and hypertension, and because other family members share the same affliction, they can't always get kidneys from parents or kids or even cousins, and they go on the terrible cadaveric kidney waiting list with 55,000 other Americans at this point.

COLLINS: And that list is a long one. Quickly, I want to just ask you, Zell, do you feel as good about it now as you did when you made -- before you had the surgery, and when you were making the decision?

KRAVINSKI: Yes, absolutely, I do. If I could, I'd give away a lot of kidneys.

COLLINS: All right.

KRAVINSKI: And anything else.

COLLINS: But as you say, you only have two. But since you have two, maybe you can give one away.

Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Zell Kravinski...

KRAVINSKI: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: ... once again, we appreciate your story.

KRAVINSKI: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 2, 2003 - 09:49   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONNELL REID, KIDNEY RECIPIENT: Thank God I got this kidney. I never in my whole life could think that anybody like that exists. And then especially after meeting him, he just blew me away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Incredible words of gratitude from a woman with a new lease on life. Donnell Reid has a new kidney, thanks to a Pennsylvania man who already gave away $15 million, but wanted to do more.

The man with the big heart and one less kidney is Zell Kravinski. He shares his story with us live this morning.

Good morning to you. I appreciate you being here with us. We can't wait to hear how you came about this decision.

ZELL KRAVINSKI, KIDNEY DONOR: It's great to be back on the show.

COLLINS: Tell me, tell me, what led you in this direction? What made you want to do this? Even after all of the huge charity gifts that you have given in your life.

KRAVINSKI: Well, I felt that wasn't enough. I felt that if I wish to be a better person, and if I wish to benefit the world, then I should respond to every call to the extent that I can, under the theory that anyone deserves something that they can use better than I can, whether I own it or not.

COLLINS: How long have you been waiting to donate a kidney?

KRAVINSKI: I've been thinking about it for a few years and following the growing kidney shortage. And I had promised myself that, as a treat to myself, when I finished giving the money away, as a sort of a gift, a reward, or incentive, that I would give my kidney away.

And I approached a few hospitals who were reluctant to do it, to my surprise, because, unfortunately, it's a very rare thing, and I hadn't supposed that in the beginning. I thought that there must be tens of thousands of people who were answering this need every year by donating their kidneys...

COLLINS: And we know for a fact that...

KRAVINSKI: ... to strangers.

COLLINS: That's right. We know for a fact there aren't. A lot of people in need of kidney transplants. Did they try to talk you out of it?

KRAVINSKI: They did their best to talk me out of it at the hospital where I gave the kidney. There was a lot of suspecting of my motives. I remember in the beginning, one of the surgeons asked me what I did for a living and what I had done in the past year. And I told him I had given $15 million away. And he sent me to a psychiatrist...

COLLINS: Really?

KRAVINSKI: ... under the suspicion I might be grandiose.

COLLINS: OK. Well, I'm glad you are genuine about this. Obviously, you have gone through the operation. Now, tell us a little bit about how you decided who, or at least what group of people, you were trying to help.

KRAVINSKI: Well...

COLLINS: You did some research on this, and you made a very distinct choice.

KRAVINSKI: It wasn't my full determination who exactly would be the recipient. But I approached a particular hospital, Albert Einstein in Philadelphia, whose population bases largely low-income African-Americans, because I feel that they're the ones who are most in need.

African-Americans, as you know, have genetic tendencies to some of the diseases that are interrelated with kidney failure, such as diabetes and hypertension, and because other family members share the same affliction, they can't always get kidneys from parents or kids or even cousins, and they go on the terrible cadaveric kidney waiting list with 55,000 other Americans at this point.

COLLINS: And that list is a long one. Quickly, I want to just ask you, Zell, do you feel as good about it now as you did when you made -- before you had the surgery, and when you were making the decision?

KRAVINSKI: Yes, absolutely, I do. If I could, I'd give away a lot of kidneys.

COLLINS: All right.

KRAVINSKI: And anything else.

COLLINS: But as you say, you only have two. But since you have two, maybe you can give one away.

Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Zell Kravinski...

KRAVINSKI: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: ... once again, we appreciate your story.

KRAVINSKI: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com