 OCTOBER 29 • 2020 | 37

A

ndy Langwald was in 
need of a kidney donor 
when he found an 
unexpected match on Facebook.
The 53-year-old West 
Bloomfield man, who had devel-
oped kidney failure at the age of 
12 and received a kidney from 
his mother, Annette Langwald-
Kozin, a perfect match, now had 
a blockage in his ureter that was 
causing health concerns. He was 
told by his doctors, after a round 
of unsuccessful procedures to fix 
the issue, that it would eventually 
cause his kidneys to no longer 
work.
His brother Michael and sis-

ter Sheri both tested as perfect 
matches to donate a kidney. 
Sheri would be the one to make 
the donation, the family decided. 
The Langwalds were ecstatic at 
the idea, then faced a devastating 
blow: about a week before the 
transplant was scheduled, Andy 
Langwald was diagnosed with 
colon cancer.
The transplant would have to 
wait, doctors advised, until the 
cancer was removed, and his 
body had healed. But while wait-
ing, his sister developed a health 
condition that would rule her 
out as a potential donor. Then 
his brother was also rejected for 

a medical reason. Langwald now 
had no prospective donors and 
didn’
t want to be put on an organ 
transplant waiting list, which can 
see people waiting upwards of 
five-10 years for the right match.
“I hadn’
t started kidney dialy-
sis yet, and that was my biggest 
fear,
” Langwald said. “
As a kid, 
I hated every second. It was a 
nightmare.
” 
He was in bad shape between 
his earlier dialysis hospital stays. 
The idea of potentially facing 
that experience again was terrify-
ing to Langwald and his family, 
who had been by his side to help 
him through medical stays, often 
sleeping in his hospital room so 
he wouldn’
t be alone.

“Two live donors who are 
perfect matches — the odds of 
that are astronomical,
” Langwald 
said. He grappled with the issue 
of what to do next. Then his 
mother Annette had what he 
called “the most amazing idea” 
and turned to social media.
“I’
m just going to put some-
thing out there,
” she told her son. 
Langwald, who didn’
t use 
Facebook, was skeptical at first. 
His mother wanted to write 
a post to see if anyone in her 
network would be interested in 
being tested as a potential match 
or knew of anyone who would 
try. She wrote about Langwald’
s 
journey and shared it publicly. 

DISTANT COUSIN 
VOLUNTEERS
First came an offer from 
Langwald’
s stepfather’
s son. But 
it was an offer from a distant 
cousin, Jenni Newman Rockoff, 
who lived in Tucson, Ariz., that 
changed Langwald’
s life forever. 
 “The last time I spoke to her 
was when we were students 
at Hillel,
” Langwald recalls. 
Ironically, a year before his 

mother posted about the need 
for a donor, Rockoff had sent her 
a friend request. She responded 
immediately and offered to be 
tested as a match for Langwald 
when she realized she had the 
same blood type.
Even though Rockoff had 
children, was married and had 
a career in front of her, she put 
everything on hold to undergo 
testing. “She had a whole life,
” 
Langwald said, “and this woman 
stepped up.
” Rockoff turned out 
to be a perfect match and the 
donation was scheduled. She 
flew to Michigan, quarantined 
for two weeks due to COVID 
and underwent surgery to 
donate a kidney. The Langwalds 

took care of her accommoda-
tions and set her up with an 
apartment in West Bloomfield 
during her stay.
Langwald had his transplant 
and is currently on the road to 
recovery. He hopes to soon be 
able to travel to his favorite des-
tination, Boca Raton, Fla. “She 
gave me my life back,
” he said. 
“She was virtually a stranger in 
the sense that I hadn’
t talked to 
her in forever, and she was will-
ing to do this.
” 
While Rockoff faced initial 
pain and discomfort after the 
surgery, she is also doing well 
and recovering. Now, Langwald’
s 
mother and Rockoff talk almost 
every day and have a new friend-
ship born from the gift.
“It was a miracle,
” Annette 
Langwald-Kozin said. “She gave 
up a month of her life for this. 
She canceled her family’
s vaca-
tion. She just made up her mind 
that she was going to do this.
”
To the Langwalds, Rockoff is 
“an angel” who was set on saving 
Andy’
s life. “How can you thank 
someone like that?” he says. “I’
m 
very blessed.
” 

“How can you thank someone 
like that?” he asks.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Kidney Donor 
Found on 
Facebook

LANGWALD FAMILY

The Langwald

family. Andy is

in the middle.

“IT WAS A MIRACLE.”

— ANDY’S MOM, ANNETTE LANGWALD-KOZIN

