So, on Friday morning, surgeons at Northwestern Memorial Hospital will remove one of Coyne's healthy kidneys and transplant it to de la Vega, a 49-year-old Filipino immigrant and mother of two who was diagnosed with renal failure three years ago and has continued to work even as she's undergone dialysis ever since.
The transplant "will give me another 25 or 30 years of life," de la Vega, clearly still astounded by her customer's generosity, said Tuesday as she sat with Coyne at Pershing East Magnet School, 3113 S. Rhodes, where he works. "It's unbelievable: a complete stranger offering his kidney to me."
Coyne has been a regular at de la Vega's Jewel for years, always choosing her checkout line because she's so cheerful. Two years ago, he noticed she'd lost weight and didn't look well, and he asked: Are you OK? She told him about her condition, how she has to undergo dialysis every night for eight hours and how, though she could survive for many years on dialysis, it left her weak and exhausted. Coyne, 52, listened. Then, he told her: I could donate a kidney for you.
She hardly knew him, didn't know if he really meant it and still was hoping her sister would turn out to be a good match for a transplant. But, when it turned out her sister wasn't a good match, Coyne offered again. That was just before last Thanksgiving. Last month, tests confirmed Coyne's kidney would be a good match.
His wife, Emily, was apprehensive, he said, but was reassured when she found out he could live a healthy life with just one kidney. He doesn't see what he's doing as anything extraordinary. "It was an easy decision," Coyne said. "All I have to do is fall asleep on a table, and then the doctors take over."
There's a news video here.
16 comments:
What a selfless act. He is a hero, a true hero.
I wish more people were like this...
:-D What a great thing to do.
Although I admire what he did, I am not particularly ashamed to admit I probably wouldn't do the same. I am saving my "spare" kidney for the first family member to need it.
His motivation for doing so, his christian faith...
Oh, so he didn't actually do it out of the kindness of his heart? What a shame.
and why can't the 2 be connected?
While doing the good deed, was he thinking that he was being watched and evaluated? Did he think giving this woman his kidney was his duty, something the boss expected him to do? Did he think he was going to be rewarded for it eventually? And if he didn't do it, would the boss disapprove?
If he really did this because he is a Christian and not because he is a good person who wanted to help a stranger, in my eyes that somewhat diminishes the selflessness and overall goodness of the thing.
<span>Mark 12:31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."</span>
It is because his love of God that he loves people.
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-
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<span><span><span><span>there is no reason he has to be worried about 'being watched evaluated' or working for our own gain but we can actually love and help each other.
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<span><span>Mark 12:31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."</span>
It is because his love of God that he loves people.
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-
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</span><span><span><span><span>there is no reason he has to be worried about 'being watched evaluated' or working for our own gain but we can actually love and help each other. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
Not only do you know that his motivation was that he is a Christian, but also his denomination and the doctrines he follows?
I am not a biblical or religious scholar, but I am pretty sure most Christians agree God is supposed to see everything we do and judge us on the Judgement day (whether anything you have done can affect the judgement depends on your branch of the religion), thus "being watched and evaluated". But anyway, if someone with total power over me commanded me to love someone, I would do my hardest to appear to love the person, even if I didn't actually feel that way. Still, love on command is not comparable to genuine love, at least in my opinion.
If you do good things because you are ordered to do good things, are you actually doing good things or just following orders?
1 Corinthians 13:1-8a and 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
Firstly ,i would say that love is not just a simple burst of emotion that we have now and again but it is somethng far more transcendent and it something we must work for sometimes. Such as when its more difficult , An example of which is to pray and love your enermies.
Matthew 5:44 .But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
i believe a good example of the reason why we are called to this is a said by Martin Luther king Jr.
'Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out date; only love can do that.'
sorry but the bible does not teach that genuine christains are to be 'judge us on the Judgement day' but rather because of Christs death in our place we are forgiven of our sins (islam does teach that all are to be judged on judgement day, perhaps you have been mistake with that ? )
1 Pet 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
I am not mistaken, your opinion of what the Bible teaches is not the only opinion out there. You may think Christians won't be judged, but there are Christians who disagree with you. You may think they are not genuine Christians, but that is completely irrelevant. Also the concept of loving your enemies is not universally considered a good idea.
Truth by definition is exclusive, someone cannot say 2 opposing arguments and expect both to be true in the same context so we can't both be right.So we cannot just 'both have our opinions' and the both of us be right .
I have shown you already that the bible teaches that Christians have been saved from Gods judgement (if you want me to expand on that, i can ) also the bible has the special privilege of defining what qualifies to be a christian (i believe that is straight forward but if you want me justify , just ask ).
As you have said are not a<span> 'biblical or religious scholar,' you have brought no statements to back up your conclusion but they are based purely on speculation and subjective opinion . Furthermore you have made a fallacy in your argument where you have said, since some have this thought of mind they must all, that would be me making the conclusion ' Hitler was evil, Hitler was a man, thus all men are evil' just because someone at some point i can only presume told you they were a christian and gave you facts not backed by nearly 2000 years of biblical tradition. </span>
Yes some will disagree that Christ died for our sins but they go against the majority and what the bible plainly teaches.
If you want more bible verses supporting my argument please just ask, or you can read the bible for yourself, try reading the gospel of luke
In love, Ewan
There is no concensus among Christians what the Bible teaches. So you can't just tell me the Bible teaches something as if that was undisputable and "the truth". It is just your opinion, your interpretation. Every Christian is a heretic from the point of view of some other Christian.
And I have made no such fallacy of which you are accusing me. Nowhere have I said that all Christians think the certain way. I do maintain, however, that MOST Christians think God is always watching and - even if they believe they have a VIP pass past the queue on the judgement day - they at least think God has an opinion on the things they do in their life. That would also be called judgement, right?
And please, no more Bible quotes. To me it doesn't matter whether Mr. Coyne is Christian, hindu or an atheist. Wanting to do good to others is nothing particularly Christian, anyway. That's why, in my opinion, doing something good because you are a Christian is less praiseworthy than doing something good because it is good.
"As you have said are not a 'biblical or religious scholar,' you have brought no statements to back up your conclusion but they are based purely on speculation and subjective opinion . Furthermore you have made a fallacy in your argument where"
I find it funny and ironic that someone who base their beliefs, morals and reasoning with something that is thousands of years old,entirely baseless on a scientific level and cannot ever be proven to speak about "backing up conclusions" and "speculation" and logical fallacies.
it makes me think you are in fact trolling.
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