Adam Hrankowski and John Routley spent many Sunday afternoons watching superheroes on television, now they consider each other a real life superstar.
Despite only knowing each other for two years, the pair now have a unique and powerful bond that goes well beyond traditional friendship. For years Routley had been on kidney dialysis, but that all changed in June when Hrankowski donated one of his kidneys.
"Adam is the super hero in this whole thing, doing good for his neighbour and his friend," Routley said from Vancouver where he's still recovering from the surgery. "He kind of exemplifies what a super human being is."
Hrankowski and Routley met in late 2011 through the home-schooling community in Prince George and a friendship quickly sprouted. Soon a routine developed where Hrankowski would show up for Routley's Sunday dialysis treatments, Tim Hortons tea in hand, and they would watch science-fiction television shows to pass the time.
With his kidneys failing, Routley needed three dialysis treatments a week, which sapped him of much of his energy and put a strain on his family. His wife Stephanie and daughter Cassidy made the best of the situation by making trips to hospitals in Vancouver and Calgary to get a change of scenery and integrate dialysis treatments into family holidays.
"When my daughter asked how I would rate life on dialysis, I said five out of 10," Routley said.
In early 2012, Hrankowski began to seriously contemplate the idea of giving one of his healthy kidneys to Routley, but he wasn't sure where to begin. A quick Internet search assured him that transplants are done all the time and after discussing the topic with his family he decided it was something he wanted to do.
Rather than tell Routley about his intention, Hrankowski wanted to find first if he was an eligible candidate so he had some preliminary tests done to see if he would be a good match.
"I'd hate to go through this and get him all excited and find out, oh John I can't do it because I'm pre-diabetic or John I can't do it because my nose is too big," Hrankowski said.
When it finally came time to tell Routley about his decision, Hrankowski's offer was met with stunned silence. Routley couldn't believe this man, who he had only met months earlier, would be willing to make such a tremendous sacrifice.
"I really was worried about him giving the kidney and his quality of life after that," Routley said.
"I would have felt terrible if his kidney health would have decreased, but Yahweh blessed and it's looking good for both of us."
More tests were required to ensure compatibility and both men had to exercise to get into good enough shape to be able to handle the surgery. The pre-surgery process went smoothly as they counted down until the big day.
Finally on June 17, Hrankowski marched into Vancouver General Hospital for his early morning surgery to have the kidney removed. Later that day Routley was wheeled into to the operating room to have the kidney put in.
So far the prognosis for both men is good. Hrankowski rebounded quickly and is already back at work full-time for the federal government. Routley had to deal with some early post-surgery complications, but is doing much better.
"I can't promise [John] that this kidney will work out for him. I don't know," Hrankowski said. "But I see that he's in a hallway, there's some doors, he can take that door or he can take another door and I have a key. I'll give you that key John and you can open that door, but I don't know what's behind it, but here's a key so you have one more option."
In addition to being thankful for Hrankowski's incredible donation, Routley said he's very appreciative of the work of transplant surgeon Dr. Christopher Nguan and all the medical professionals he's dealt with in Prince George and Vancouver.
If all goes well, Routley could be back in Prince George by next week. Once he's fully recovered he's considering looking for part-time work in healthcare as a way to give back to all the people, from paramedics to nurses and doctors, who have helped him over the years.
The B.C. branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada will honour Hrankowski on Oct. 20 at the Prince George kidney walk at the Northern Sport Centre. Since 2008 the walk has raised more than $800,000 provincewide, with a goal of an additional $340,000 this year.
The foundation helped Hrankowski out during the donation process by covering some of his travel and accommodation expenses related to the surgery.
Amazingly, this is the second time Routley has been a transplant recipient. Back in 1999 he was diagnosed with leukemia and required a bone marrow transplant. A donor was found in Germany and the surgery was successful.
In the interim he's had a host of health problems, from his kidney issues to heart blockages to pneumonia.
Routley hopes his triumph over all these medical setbacks will inspire others, including those on dialysis waiting for a living or deceased donor.
"Don't give up on hope and miracles," Routley said. "I thought this living donor thing, I couldn't imagine someone doing that for me."
Routley might see Hrankowski as his hero for giving him the opportunity to get off dialysis and get on with his life, but Hrankowski sees the equation differently.
"I think that John and people like him, they're the heroes," he said. "He got into this situation that he didn't choose to be in and he's got to make the decisions."
Hrankowski acknowledged there were risks for him by deciding to become a living organ donor, but he said the challenges Routley faced were more extreme.
"I think the heroes are the people and their families that are living with kidney disease and are undergoing transplants," he said.
