Ex-Met Ed Kranepool still waiting for a kidney after transplant put off
Former Met Ed Kranepool speaks to the press at the Mets Museum during a blood drive at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Corey Sipkin
Ed Kranepool still needs a kidney.
A friend in Florida volunteered to donate one to the 74-year-old former longtime Met and current Jericho resident. Kranepool, whose diabetes caused his kidneys to fail, thought the operation was coming this month. But he called to set a date and learned a health issue was discovered during testing of the donor. So the transplant has been put off.
“Hopefully, that’s just temporarily,” Kranepool said Wednesday at a Citi Field appearance with 1969 Mets teammate Art Shamsky. “He takes medication. . . . He had called me and said he wanted to do it.”
But the search continues as well. Kranepool said “regular fans” also have volunteered to give him a kidney.
“We’ve had people call up and call the hospital and get tested,” Kranepool said. “. . . For whatever reason, they’re not a match.”
He appreciates that strangers are willing to sacrifice an organ for him, saying, “That’s great, but you read about it all the time. There are people in this world that give back.”
Kranepool also has lost the toes on his left foot because of the diabetes and uses a special boot. He said, “I look a lot better than I guess I really am, but I feel good.”
That goes for his attitude, too.
“You have to keep positive because you know what? What’s the alternative?” Kranepool said to a man on hand who also needs a kidney. “You want to give up. There’s no reason to give up. Life is fun. Life is good.”
