Olentangy coach, secretary connected for life through kidney donation

LEWIS CENTER, Ohio (WCMH) – After a recent kidney transplant, a central Ohio athletic department secretary and head football coach are connected for life.

Lisa Daragona, the athletic secretary at Olentangy High School, had a rare kidney disease. She got her first transplant from her sister in 2013. But in the fall of 2022, she said she started not feeling well again. She got back on the transplant list. In May, she found out she had a match.

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“I gave him a huge hug and just started crying all over again and that was pretty much what I did for about two hours that morning,” she said.

The match was Wade Bartholomew, math teacher and head football coach at Olentangy High School. The moment Daragona found out he’d be giving her a kidney was recorded on camera by someone else in the office. Batholomew’s wife works in the same office as Daragona. She told Wade what Daragona was going through. He wanted to help and got tested.

“I was just raised to be super selfless and as soon as somebody’s in need that you know needs help,  go help them,” he said.

The transplant was performed last month at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.

“I’m just healing good, still trying to take it easy,” Daragona said. “Trying not to do too much to set myself back. But I feel great, I have a lot more energy, I feel better, people tell me I look better.”

The pair hopes their story inspires others to donate. Dr. Uday Nori, who is part of the kidney transplant team at the Wexner Medical Center, said there are about 96,000 people around the country in need of a kidney. About 700 of them at the Wexner, according to Nori.

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“We rely heavily upon the generosity of people who mean well, who are literally going to save somebody else’s life,” he said.

Both Daragona and Bartholomew are back at work. He’s been with his team and she’s been making sure everything in the department is running smoothly.

“It is a really neat gift to make sure Lisa gets to go be the mom she wants to be,” Bartholomew said. “Just knowing that what she was going through and now how much better she says she feels, and the things she’s able to get accomplished, that’s all I need to hear. And I’m giving her that opportunity to do that.”

Now they have a special bond.

“It’s not something I think words can express,” Daragona said. “He gave me an organ so I could continue to live and live a normal life.”

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