health

Saving
Alfie

Local woman launches
desperate search to find a
kidney for her ailing brother.

ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

ABOVE: In this photo taken in Detroit
in 1949, Fran is being held by her
mother, with Alfred standing.

TOP: Alfred with his nephew Daniel.

66

August 31 • 2017

miracle saved their moth-
er from certain death in a
Nazi concentration camp
during the Holocaust, now Fran
Parker of West Bloomfield is hop-
ing for a modern-day miracle to
save her big brother’s life.
Alfred Klein, 70, of Yucca
Valley, Calif., has been diagnosed
with Stage 5 renal failure. Three
days a week, he is hooked up
to a dialysis machine for sev-
eral hours at a time to purify his
blood — something his kidneys
can no longer do. Doctors say he
needs a transplant to survive.
“In California, the waiting list
for a kidney transplant is six to
eight years,” Parker explains. “We
need to find a living donor. I am
trying everything to save my
brother.”
At one point, Alfred was placed
on a transplant list in Nebraska,
with the hope that he’d be able to
find a donor more quickly there.
But, after a hospital stay and
some complications from a pain
medication he was given, he was
removed from the list for addi-
tional testing.
That’s when Parker turned
to social media, launching the
Facebook page “Saving Alfie With
A Kidney Donor.” She is holding
out hope that a family member, a
friend, a neighbor or even a total
stranger who sees her online
messages might be a willing
donor and a match.
“My brother’s blood is type A
positive,” she wrote in one post.
“He is compatible with A positive
and negative as well as O nega-
tive and positive. He is a brilliant,
kind, generous, spirited guy. One
person can make a difference in
another person’s life by giving life

jn

and learning about the process.”
According to the nonprofit
Living Kidney Donor’s Network,
there are currently more than
80,000 people on the kidney
transplant waiting list. Among
the criteria for becoming a liv-
ing donor, a person must be in
good general health, have normal
kidney function and be between
19-70 years old. Several tests
must be performed to determine
whether the donor is a match
for the intended patient before a
transplant can take place.
“I truly appreciate everything
my sister is doing,” Alfred said.
“It’s just a question of finding
somebody who wants to do a
mitzvah because this would
essentially give me my life back.”

SURVIVOR’S SON
Luckily for Alfred, survival and
longevity run in the family. His
mother, Viola Greenberger, is 96
and in good health. A twist of
fate — where she and another
woman in line at Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp swapped
papers, switched identities and
changed positions in line — likely
prevented her from being killed
like her parents, four siblings,
grandparents and other relatives
along with her friend, the famous

Anne Frank. She was liberated
from the death camp on April 15,
1945. Alfred is her first son.
“He represented new life after
devastation,” Fran says. “My
mother is still alive and strong.
She does not know how ill
[Alfred] is despite being sharp.
She lost an entire family to the
Nazis; now she could lose her
first-born son to kidney disease.”
The family moved to the
United States, settling in Detroit
in 1947. Fran and Alfred, just 18
months apart, grew up together.
After graduating from Oak Park
High School, Alfred attended
the University of Michigan and
Berkeley Law School. He spent
his career working as a labor
and employment lawyer in Los
Angeles and earned a spot on the
“Best Lawyers in America” list.
“He was a ballroom and swing
dancer. He also acted in a docu-
mentary and in his local com-
munity theater. He was an avid
hiker,” Parker says. “My mission
is to save my brother so he can
have quality of life again.”
Since launching the Facebook
page, Fran has heard from
numerous people, including
scam artists claiming they’re try-
ing sell a kidney and others with
information to share or stories of

hope. In September, Alfred will
travel to U-M Hospital in Ann
Arbor to be evaluated and hope-
fully accepted as a transplant
patient. That way, if a serious
donor comes forward, he’ll be
ready to go.
“We are in a race against time,”
Fran says. “My mother’s life is
full of losses and she could not
endure another one.”
Alfred says while the dialysis
leaves him exhausted, he has an
optimistic outlook and is other-
wise in “terrific shape.” He gets
by with the help of a caregiver
(the same woman who helped
care for Fran’s husband, Dr. Phil
Parker, before he lost his battle
with cancer last year) and the
companionship of his three
German Shepherds. He looks for-
ward to the day when he can hike
again, dance again and perform
on stage again.
“From where I’m sitting, the
prospect of getting my life back is
just huge,” Alfred says. “Hopefully,
I will find a match.” •

If you or someone you know is inter-
ested in learning more or becoming
a donor, visit the “Saving Alfie With A
Kidney Donor” page on Facebook or go
to the website eocchadd.wixsite.com/
savingalfie.

