Transplant Center

Giving the Gift of Life

Robert Connnolly, Jr. sits at the table with a box of chocolate-frosted cookies at his side. Little more than a week ago, he wouldn't dream of biting into one of the sweets.

For 20 years, the Severna Park resident suffered from diabetes until he underwent a kidney and pancreas transplant on May 24 at the University of Maryland Medical Center. But the most remarkable twist of fate is not what the 49 year-old Mr. Connolly can now eat, but the source of his renewed health.

Courtney Punte of Glen Burnie, Mr. Connolly's 23-year-old former stepdaughter, donated one of her kidneys to the man she considers a father figure and friend.

A four-hour operation and a dozen horror stories didn't shake Ms. Punte's resolve. Her upbringing taught her to help those in need.

"I cried for a week because I was so afraid they were going to call me and tell me there was nothing I could do for this man," she said.

In addition to the kidney he received from his stepdaughter, Mr. Connolly received a pancreas from a 23-year-old accident victim. The double transplant assures that Mr. Connolly's body will not succumb to diabetes in the future.

Ms. Punte and her mother, Bobbie Rubright, remained close to Mr. Connolly even after the couple's eight-year marriage ended nearly 10 years ago. Ms. Punte said she didn't hesitate to volunteer after Mr. Connolly's sisters were excluded as kidney matches.

"I would have done it for some guy I met on the street yesterday," Ms. Punte said. "I couldn't not let somebody get the help they needed."

Despite her hectic schedule as a nanny and a full-time Anne Arundel Community College student, Ms. Punte insisted that she be the one to donate her kidney and not her 48-year-old mother.

But there were frustrations. For months, the two received no calls for pancreas donors, and they endured three false alarms. In one case, a donor pancreas was deemed unhealthy. In another, Mr. Connolly was put on stand-by and lost out to a man who was a better match.

"I was so anxious, I would have let Roto Rooter do the job," Mr. Connolly said.

But once the transplant took place, it didn't even interfere with Ms. Punte's final exam schedule at Anne Arundel Community College.

Although Ms. Punte will have to slow down her schedule for another five weeks, she will travel to Boston this week for her role as a nanny.

Ms. Punte was relieved to hear that her donation will not affect or complicate her ability to have children in the future. Doctors gave her a clean bill of health but told her she will have to watch her weight.

As for Mr. Connolly, he said the six-week recuperation period is not as bad as the lifetime he might have spent on dialysis. He moved back in with his father, Richard, and mother, Betty, during his three months of dialysis and is recovering from the surgery in their Severna Park home.

Despite the ease with which his family has weathered the transplant process - Mr. Connolly's mother received a liver transplant in 1991 - health officials say the magnitude of the surgery shouldn't be downplayed.

"The mortality rate is high for diabetics on dialysis," said Dr. Benjamin Philosophe, an assistant professor of surgery and Mr. Connolly's transplant surgeon at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "This operation can be life-saving."

Dr. Philosophe said Mr. Connolly was a brittle diabetic, with blood sugar levels that were difficult to control. But he also said that his recovery has been quicker than average. The most difficult part of the recovery is monitoring the progress of organs from two different donors.

Ms. Punte's surgery required a much smaller incision since her kidney was removed using laparoscopic surgery, in which a fiber-optic instrument removes the kidney.

It will be at least six weeks before Mr. Connolly can return to his job with Premium Electronics, a company that works with insurance companies to repair car damage. Given time and his positive attitude, Mr. Connolly may even see the day when he returns to the ballfield and his former softball days.

Meanwhile Ms. Punte, who just completed her freshman year, hopes to become a neonatal nurse. Her love of children and her commitment to helping others were what originally attracted her to the career, but her time in the hospital has only bolstered her interest in the field.

Mr. Connolly said his former stepdaughter's actions and choices are an extension of her personality.

"She's a class act," he said.

Reprinted with permission from The Capitol (Annapolis, Md).
This article originally ran on June 10, 1999.

by Jessica Buel, staff writer

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This page was last updated on: June 15, 2007.