Pennsylvania Representative Brian Sims reveals he donated a kidney to his neighbor
Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims has revealed that he helped save a life by donating a kidney!
Last year, the Democratic representative learned he was a perfect donor match for a gay man was dying of renal failure and agreed to donate one of his kidneys, according to Out Magazine. This week, Sims tweeted that he ran into the now-healthy recipient and his husband while they were having lunch.
“My recipient Alan and his husband John were sitting having lunch,” he said. “A perfectly normal, healthy, happy couple sitting in the sun enjoying each other’s company. It was perfection!”
Sims also revealed that when his parents came to town, the group all shared a meal together. “Families come in all shapes and sizes,” he tweeted. “Ours is pretty special.”
Sims initially revealed the news last year when he found out that some Republican members of the Pennsylvania legislature tested positive for coronavirus but hid their status and came to work anyway without notifying those they came in contact with.
“In late January I secretly donated a kidney to a person who lives about 10 blocks from me in the City,” Sims tweeted last year. “He was dying of renal failure and I turned out to be a near perfect match.”
Sims later stressed that “none of this was ever supposed to be public” but was meant only as a private act of compassion. He only revealed what he had done for his neighbor because fellow lawmakers had put him and others at risk by not being honest about their positive test results.
Sims became the first out gay elected state legislator in Pennsylvania when he was elected in 2012. In 2015, he made an unsuccessful run for Congress. However, in February, he announced he was running for the state’s lieutenant governor.
“We need adults in the room and I want to bring bold innovative leadership based on lived experiences and shared values to the Commonwealth,” he said in his candidacy announcement.
