Long-lost friend donates kidney

Old friends are the best.

Ask Tucumcari’s Marty Martinez.

He hadn’t seen Michael Holloway in five years. Five months after their reunion, Holloway donated a kidney to Martinez.

“Michael was sent by God, of that I am convinced,” Martinez said this week.

link Staff photo: Thomas Garcia

Michael Holloway, left, gave his friend Marty Martinez one of his kidneys to save his life.

Martinez, 42, was diagnosed with kidney failure earlier this year, a condition he learned about after he lost a portion of his foot due to diabetes and a blood clot.

He said the search for a kidney donor began soon after.

“It got to the point where the medical staff suggested I look for a living-will donor,” Martinez said. “I couldn’t bring myself to posting my need for a kidney on Facebook or the Internet.”

Martinez said there were family and friends who had considered donating a kidney to him, but they were not medical matches.

As Martinez and his family contemplated his next move, the most unlikely of people paid him a visit for his birthday.

On May 23, Holloway, 25, made the journey from his home in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, to Tucumcari to surprise Martinez, a friend he had not seen or spoken to since 2010.

“I was a bit scared, I was going to a town I didn’t know and had no idea where my friend lived,” Holloway said.

Holloway said it was only his second time traveling to America. His first trip stateside was in 2009 on a culinary internship to Missouri, where he first met Martinez.

Martinez said he was working as a chef at a resort in Ridgedale, Missouri, and took Holloway under his wing. He said they formed a friendship over the next year and he told Holloway about his hometown of Tucumcari.

After Holloway returned to the UK, Martinez moved back to Tucumcari.

Holloway said he often thought about Martinez and for some reason he cannot explain, something kept telling him that he needed to go see him.

“I made it to Tucumcari and was staying at the Days Inn motel, because I had no earthly idea where Marty lived or how to get a hold of him,” Holloway said.

Holloway said he began talking to some locals and explained why he was in town and who he was searching for.

Martinez said the story got back to his fiancee, Marcie Channey, who went to the Days Inn to meet Holloway. He said they spoke and shortly after Channey brought Holloway to their home, where the friends were reunited.

Holloway said he stayed with Martinez for two weeks and in that time he learned of his friend’s illness.

“I was sad that my friend was in such a state,” Holloway said. “Even though it was a troubling time, Marty took me in to his home.”

Martinez said a few days before Holloway was set to return to the UK, he traveled with him and Martinez’s father to Albuquerque, where his father had a doctor’s appointment.

Martinez said he and Holloway were riding in the elevator to the lobby of the hospital when Holloway asked:

“What would it take for me to give you one of my kidneys?”

They went to visit Brenna Trujillo, a registered nurse and clinic manager at Renal Transplant Services at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque.

Trujillo said she spoke to Martinez and Holloway about the lengthy and thorough process required for the procedure. She said only 35 to 40 percent of potential donors who match patients are actually approved as donors.

And, of course, Trujillo lived a long way from New Mexico.

He remained in the U.S. until June, then returned in August for more tests.

“Michael could have backed out and my family and I would have totally understood,” Martinez said. “I was worried about his health more than my own. I kept thinking that he is young, what happens if he gives his kidney and later on has health issues.”

Holloway never backed out.

On Oct. 28, Holloway’s surgery took three hours, then Martinez was in surgery for five hours. Martinez said when he was in recovery, he woke up to Holloway standing at his bedside.

“I was shocked. I asked him what he was doing there and told him he should be in bed,” Martinez said.

Holloway said he felt fine, he had no pain and wanted to be with his friend.

They remained together until Monday, when Holloway returned to the UK.

Martinez said Holloway’s gift and the prayers and support of his family and community have made this a special Thanksgiving.

“He has become a brother to me,” Martinez said. “I am certain he is an angel, an angel sent by God.”