Jan 12 2009
“I Want My Kidney Back!”
The news wires are wiggling with the whacked out story of Doctor Richard Batista of Long Island who told his estranged wife:
“Give me my kidney back or $1.5M.”
Allegedly, eight years ago, Dr. Batista donated his kidney to save Dawnell’s life, and their shaky marriage.
After two failed transplants, Dawnell’s body accepted her husband’s kidney. Soaring with her new found flight-to-health, she returned to school, earned a master’s degree in nursing, and took up karate. After an injury suffered while trying to earn her black belt, she began physical therapy which evolved into an affair with her therapist.
Batista charges not only did she repay his gesture by betraying him, she’s denying him access to their three kids in an increasingly bitter divorce.
“It put a hole in my heart that still exists,” Batista said of his wife’s disloyalty. “To this day, I’m a man of pride. To be betrayed that way, humiliated - I can’t even begin to say.”
Despite the animosity, Batista insisted he would donate the kidney all over again to his hopefully soon-to-be-ex. He fondly recalls a visit to her room on the day after surgery.
“There was no greater feeling on this planet,” he said. “As God is my witness, I felt as if I could put my arm around Jesus Christ. I was walking on a cloud.”
The case was apparently the first of its kind in New York State. Julia Rivera of the New York Organ Donor Network said she never heard of anything similar.
“This is extraordinary,” the spokeswoman said.
Expert medical ethicists agree that the case is a nonstarter. A as a surgeon, surely Dr. Batista knows organ donation is a gift, and it is illegal for organs to be bought, sold, or exchanged in the United States.
His attorney says his client isn’t really looking for Dawnell Batista to give back her kidney.
“Does he really want the kidney back? Of course not,” he said.
Batista said the aim of his cash-for-kidney claim was to draw attention to Dawnell not allowing him agreed-upon visitation with the couple’s children.
The $1.5 million his client feels he’s entitled to reflects damages, including how much money she made as a result of being able to continue working and not having to go on dialysis. “A price can’t be placed on a human organ but it does have value,” he said.
This story gives new life to the cliche: “If you don’t play my way, I’ll take my toys and go home.”
Unanswered Question:
If Batista does get the kidney back, what will he do with it?
For information on how to be an organ and tissue donor check out:
Recovery Rocks!
