Maid Service Owner Donates Cleanings and Kidney to Cancer Survivor
Friends for 20 years, Ramapo College alumni look back at their recent, successful kidney transplant surgery in the COVID-19 era in time for National Kidney Month this March as thousands wait for their match.
Cliffside Park, NJ— 03/23/2021— Melissa Heule, owner of Hudson Clean Hive LLC, a residential cleaning company in the North Jersey area, donated her kidney to her friend and cancer survivor Danilo Duran, an IT manager for Bressler Amery & Ross Law Firm, and member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, on January 12, 2021 at RWJ Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ.
College Days
COVID-19The two first met through mutual friends in the freshmen dorm buildings. Although Heule studied theater and communications and Duran focused on technology, the two remained close and often took trips into Manhattan to enjoy the New York AIDS Walk, Beatles points of interest, and also volunteered to help orphans at Mustard Seed Communities in Jamaica.
Cancer Battle
In 2016, Duran learned that his prolonged abdominal discomfort was stage three lymphoma. After grueling treatment that caused the loss of his renal function, he needed to wait two years before being eligible for a kidney donation. Currently, more than 100,000 are awaiting organs in the United States with a majority needing kidneys from either a cadaver or living donor. Nearly half a million citizens are on dialysis. Several programs have shut down intermittently during the pandemic and many may be fearful to pursue the process. For those like Duran who survived cancer but were on hours of frequent peritoneal dialysis, the wait could feel like a ticking time bomb.
“I was devastated when he told me he had cancer,” stated Heule. “So many acquaintances were popping up with cancer, and both of us each lost a close Ramapo College classmate and others to cancer or renal failure. We were determined to see him live to finish the fight.”
She recalls her friend Kristine Castro-O’Keefe, a nurse and fellow Ramapo College graduate who died in 2013 from AML. She also lost one of her long-time clients, Pastor Peggy Hayes of Dumont to colon cancer in 2019. Duran, too, lost one of his roommates to cancer.
Cleaning for a Reason
Since then, Heule was heartbroken but sought ways to help others fighting the disease. She partnered her company, Hudson Clean Hive, with the national non-profit organization, “Cleaning for a Reason,” offering more than half a dozen cancer patients free home sessions while they are focused on their treatment, offering over $1,500 worth of free cleanings.
The Donation to Save His Life
Duran asked her for editing ideas for his flyer at the start of his search for a potential donor. When she saw that he was type A+, she was leery but agreed to start the testing process at the hospital’s Living Donor Institute, one of the largest in the country. A few months later, a crossmatch of tissue and other items revealed compatibility. Although the two were concerned about COVID-19 shutting down the program as it did at the beginning of his search, they picked a date and the operation so far has been a complete success. Now Duran is off of dialysis, and although on medication to support his immune-compromised system, he’s back to work and looking forward to summer days in his backyard and on his boat on Lake Hopatcong.
National Kidney Month
Although doctors continue to monitor the status of the two, both friends look forward to celebrating their 40th birthdays this year – including Duran’s during March’s National Kidney Month.
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For more information, press only:
Melissa Heule
(201)840-1980 (business phone)
www.hudsoncleanhive.com
