Dad Gets Kidney Through Craigslist Ad

The Craigslist ad was short and to the point: “Please Help Us, My Dad Needs a Kidney!” Jennifer Flood, 30, and her sisters (her twin Cynthia and older sibling Heather, 32) posted the message on Craigslist in a desperate attempt to find a someone willing to make the ultimate sacrifice: donate a kidney to a complete stranger without asking anything in return.

That ad launched a chain of events that eventually led the Pleasantville, N.Y.-based family to find such a person—a 48-year-old California woman named Dawn Verdick—who was willing to donate a kidney to their father, Daniel Flood, 68. The kidney transplant took place December 12, and the family is beyond grateful.

The journey was incredible, but it was also difficult, Flood says, and Craigslist isn’t the easiest way to find an unrelated organ donor. But there are plenty of people trying to do the same on the free online network, including patients in New Jersey, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and other areas.

“We’re not recommending people to post ads on Craigslist, just because there’s a lot of loopholes, a lot of scammers. If you’re not skilled at sifting through tons of information, it’s not going to work for you,” says Flood. She called the experience an “emotionally draining, physically draining journey.”