By EDMUND M. SILVESTRE

CLIFTON, N.J. — When Arlene Paras needed a lifesaving kidney transplant, her son, Earl, quickly volunteered to be a donor.

But Arlene, 53, was terrified — not for herself, but for her 30-year-old son. She was concerned about its consequences on Earl, who’s just entering the prime of his life as a New York medical assistant and a sought-after party disc jockey.

Arlene’s first choice was her brother, Frederic.

But his high blood pressure made it impossible.

As time was running out for the Manhattan administrative assistant from Baguio, who refused an exhausting and time-consuming three times a week dialysis, Earl insisted to be his mother’s donor. After a battery of medical tests, Earl came out a very good match.

“I was so worried about Earl until I talked to my doctor and checked the Internet and made my own research,” says Arlene, who had been diagnosed with kidney failure over a year ago. “The doctors told me it’s been done many times and all the donors lead good lives with no complications and that people can live with one kidney alone.”

“My mom’s very lucky because I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and she had a pretty good kidney going into her,” Earl says, laughing, in an interview with the Filipino Reporter.

“I’ll do anything for my mom, I would even give my life to her if she wants,” says Earl half-jokingly, as his mother, seated beside him at the family’s living room, stares at her son adoringly.

“He loves me,” Arlene says, then burst into laughter.

“Seriously,” says Earl, “it’s no big deal, for all the wonderful things she has done for me and my sister. It’s something I knew I had to do right away.”

After weeks of preparation and prayers, the transplant took place last April 4 at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

“I never had an operation before, so I was kinda nervous,” says Earl. “I was thinking what’s gonna happen afterwards, how I’m gonna react, those were weighing in my head.”

For two-and-a-half hours, doctors removed Earl’s left kidney in minimally-invasive laparoscopic operation, which allows exposure through a high definition camera, inserted through one of a few small notches in his skin, rather than a large open cut.

As soon as the veins and arteries were disconnected, doctors removed the kidney by squeezing it through one of the holes in a collapsible plastic bag. The kidney, placed on a sterile ice, was brought to the adjacent operating room, where doctors attached it to Arlene’s bladder for the next three hours. The new kidney started working in a matter of seconds.

Earl went home two days later, while Arlene stayed in the hospital for eight days.

The “gift of life” operation was the second miracle for the Paras family. The transplant could not have happened had Arlene lost Earl from meningitis when he was 11. Earl, in a coma for six days, was given a 50-50 chance to survive and was confined in a hospital for four months.

“Earl lost all his mobility and doctors told us my son might not make it,” Arlene recalls. “My husband Ding and I were just numb and couldn’t believe what we heard. But I never believed the doctor.”

Slowly, with the power of prayer and faith, Earl fully recovered. “My mom took care of me everyday at the hospital and I knew what she had to go through,” Earl says. “That was probably part of the reason why I found it easy to decide to give her my kidney.”

Arlene said she’s not surprised at her son’s courage, strong will and selflessness. After all, she says Earl is a descendant of the illustrious rancher and tribal leader Mateo Cariño of Baguio, and the legendary poet Jose Corazon de Jesus (Huseng Batute), father of Balagtasan.

Today, Earl is back at his day job and resumed his disc jockeying at nights and weekends. He also is no longer under medication.

Arlene, meanwhile, continues to recuperate at home and won’t be back at work until the next two months.

She’s taking some two dozen kinds of medicine everyday, including anti-rejection drugs, and is getting personal care 24/7 from Earl; her daughter Sarah, who is a nurse; and her husband Ding.

“I’m so lucky to have a loving and supportive family,” says Arlene. “My husband was doing everything in the house and would even lift me and Earl and drive us to the hospital and back home. He’s so loving and I can’t help but fall in love with him all over again.”

Even my grandson (Raine, 7, son of Sarah) came to me when we were looking for a donor and told me, ‘Lollipop, I have two kidneys. You can have one.’”

According to the Kidney & Urology Foundation in America, there are approximately 20 million people in America who have kidney disease and more than 400,000 of them require dialysis treatment or a kidney transplant due to end-stage renal disease.

Some 61,000 Americans are on a kidney transplant list, with more than 6,000 die each year while waiting for potentially lifesaving transplants.

“It’s sad that the public is not yet fully-educated and well-informed about the advantages of donating a kidney,” says Arlene. “But because I experienced it, I now fully understand it. I see my son, he’s okay and he’s strong, and there’s really nothing to be fearful about sharing your kidney especially to a loved one. It’s a wonderful gift.”