Jesse Eisenberg’s altruistic kidney donation explained as actor helps stranger
The vital facts behind Jesse Eisenberg’s altruistic kidney donation
- Hollywood actor and director Jesse Eisenberg is preparing to make an altruistic living kidney donation to a stranger in mid-December.
- Altruistic living donation, where an individual gives an organ to someone they do not know, is a vital contribution to the UK's transplant programme.
- In 2024/25, 60 individuals in the UK chose to donate a kidney to a stranger, with an additional 125 transplants facilitated by the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme.
- NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) considers these non-directed altruistic donations as "game-changers" for the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme, enabling complex donor chains.
- Lisa Burnapp, NHSBT's associate medical director, highlighted that these donors are crucial for the 6,650 people awaiting a kidney transplant in the UK, as they can trigger chains benefiting multiple patients.