The Newport community is rallying around lifelong resident and beloved nurse Moira Houlihan, who is battling stage 5 chronic kidney disease and urgently needs a kidney transplant.
Known for her compassion, warmth, and lifelong dedication to caring for others, Moira has spent her career helping patients and comforting families in their most difficult moments. Now, friends, family, and neighbors are coming together to return that same care and kindness.
Through the Massachusetts General Hospital Kidney Paired Donation Program, it’s possible to help even if you’re not a direct match. The Mass General Transplant Center operates one of the most active and experienced living kidney donor programs in the region—and the largest. Living donation allows patients to receive a transplant without waiting years for an organ from a deceased donor.
The need is urgent: there are four times as many people waiting for kidneys as there are available from deceased donors, and the average wait time is three years or more. In contrast, living donor transplants can happen within weeks, and organs from living donors often function better and last longer. For patients with kidney failure, the advantages are life-changing and the risks for donors are minimal.
Community members are encouraged to learn more and take the first step by following the provided link to the Mass General transplant program (mghlivingdonors.org). Those unable to donate are urged to show support by sharing Moira’s story, spreading awareness, or simply sending encouragement to her and her family.
As one friend shared, “Moira has dedicated her life to helping others. Now it’s our turn to help her.”
Every share, post, and conversation brings her one step closer to finding a donor — and to a second chance at life.
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