Father Loses 103 Pounds So He Can Donate Kidney to Daughter

A 297-pound man dropped more than one-third of his weight so he could donate a kidney to his 5-year-old daughter.

The girl, Meagan Leamer, appeared Wednesday at the clinic where the transplant was performed but was too bashful to speak.

Randy Leamer lost 103 pounds and is determined to keep the weight off.

No food is as delicious as getting a hug from his kids, especially now that they “can actually get their arms around me,” Leamer said Wednesday, less than three weeks after the successful operation.

When the 32-year-old Pennsylvania mill operator learned in December 1996 that his kidney was a perfect match for his daughter Meagan, his weight made surgery too risky. Obesity increases the possibility of developing pneumonia, blood clots and other complications.

Last January, he went on a strict diet. He ate one meal a day, cut out sweets and fats and began to exercise. He was in a hurry: Meagan was on dialysis for a kidney disease that leads to kidney failure.

“I had a strong motivation to lose it fast,” he said. “There was never any question about donating it, but I was just worried that I would not get my weight down fast enough.”

He was down to 194 pounds for the Dec. 12 operation at Cleveland Clinic. Meagan was sent home to North East, Pa., a week later and is expected to recover fully.

Her mother, Genie Leamer, described the ordeal as a cross between heaven and hell.

Randy Leamer did not appear at the news conference. He said in a telephone interview from his northwestern Pennsylvania home that he was still feeling some post-surgery pain and didn’t want to make the 108-mile trip to Cleveland.

As soon as the doctors allow, he plans to resume walking 2 1/2 miles a day.