The selfless gift of life

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Darren Harrison’s “positive state of mind” T-shirt said it all.

In April, Harrison, 37, received a kidney from Elizabeth Ursin, 46. His days of 10 1/2 hours of dialysis due to end-stage renal failure are over.

“I felt grateful … like a higher power was looking out for me,” Harrison said. “I was here for a bigger purpose – for my girls and teaching. My parents helped me a lot during this whole process.”

Divine intervention is what Harrison, his family and Ursin believe brought them together.

Their worlds were different.

Ursin was the last of four children growing up in Metairie, graduating from St. Ann School and St. Mary’s Dominican (in 1995) and earning a degree in exercise science and health education from the University of Memphis while exiled from New Orleans after Katrina. 

Harrison has an older brother Nathan, a St. Augustine High School graduate 10 years his senior. Darren attended Edna Karr and Sarah Reed public schools in New Orleans and graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge.

The Catholic faith and being displaced due to Hurricane Katrina also were factors in their connecting in the first place.

Ursin’s best friend and mentor, Flint Mitchell, suggested she visit the spirit-filled St. Peter Claver Church, where she found a love, comfort and joy for the Lord that she hadn’t previously experienced in church. 

“I really felt the Holy Spirit here, and I had never had that kind of feeling before,” Ursin said about her first encounter at St. Peter Claver in March 2019. 

Harrison’s family was also searching for a spiritual home after their former church, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, was destroyed. They, too, felt a welcoming presence at the St. Peter Claver in Treme.

“I was really moved by the choir,” said Willie Harrison, Darren’s dad. “I almost felt like I was in a Baptist church.”

Parish support
Ursin, Willie Harrison and his wife Faye became fast friends at St. Peter Claver, usually sitting one row apart. 

“I kept coming and moved to the left side of pews where the Harrisons sit,” Ursin said. “We held hands during the Our Father and sign of peace.”

One of Darren Harrison’s three daughters, Alayna Johnson, 13, would hug Ursin, who then also met Alayna’s sisters, Aaliyah Johnson, 14, and Amiyah Harrison, 9. The three girls are St. Peter Claver altar servers. 

“Now, I have my church family, who are now my friends,” Ursin said.

“I was so glad you decided to sit on this side of the church where we normally sit,” Willie Harrison told Ursin. “That brought us closer, and she was able to meet Darren’s daughters. … God moved her over.”

Darren Harrison’s kidney problems surfaced in 2019, with a non-emergent kidney issue, he said. After contracting COVID in February 2021, Darren told his mother, Faye, he just wasn’t feeling well. 

Experiencing fuzzy vision, Darren had an eye exam in May 2021 that detected his blood pressure was high enough to cause a stroke. He was rushed to University Medical Center’s emergency room and put on dialysis for end-stage renal failure at Tulane University Medical Center’s DCI Clinic, with the hope of receiving a kidney transplant.

Ursin had never met Darren, but when Faye Harrison mentioned her son’s need for a kidney, Ursin was quickly tested to see if she was a match. She figured she was single, had no children, needed only one kidney and was in good shape to recover from the surgery. 

“And, the rest is history,” Ursin said. 

“Elizabeth demonstrated her faith by doing what she did without ever knowing Darren,” Willie Harrison said. “We were praying that someone would give a kidney when she volunteered hers. God answers prayers. … God touched Elizabeth.”

Be patient, know I am there
The organ donation process started in January 2022, with Ursin taking a spring semester off from her MBA studies at LSU-Shreveport. She discussed the surgery with her family members, who were naturally worried but still supportive due to their strong Catholic faith. Her parents, Debbie and Terry Ursin, parishioners at St. Angela Merici Church in Metairie, knew Ursin was “born to do this” and gave her a St. Joan of Arc plaque.

Initially, there was a glitch. At Ursin’s regular dental cleaning, rare oral epithelial dysplasia pre-cancer was discovered. After Ursin underwent a few laser surgeries and was monitored in her recovery every three months, the kidney transplant was finally done on April 5, 2023.

“It was rough, but I was not swayed (by the setbacks),” Ursin said.

Before the organ transplant, she and Harrison met for coffee. Father Ajani Gibson, pastor of St. Peter Claver, also prayed over them and Harrison’s family for a successful surgery. 

Additional moral support came from Ursin’s sister Mary Favalora, who read her a verse from John 15:13: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

“I held on to that,” Ursin said as she went into surgery. 

During her 2 1/2-hour procedure by Dr. Anil Paramesh at Tulane, Ursin’s parents and the Harrisons waited together outside the operating room. She was released from the hospital in a day’s time and was back to work two days later, resuming her workout routine nine days after surgery. No one had to care for her at home, as she had feared.

“I can do every single thing,” Ursin said. “I just have to eat healthy, drink water and get regular exercise (which she already does). I totally encourage others to do this.”

Ursin saw Harrison the next day. He was walking the second day after surgery and was released after five days. 

The transplant was a life-changer for Harrison. He’s much healthier now, having lost approximately 100 pounds to get down to 210 pounds. He is a transplant advocate.

“The one thing I learned is that tomorrow is not promised,” said Harrison.

Harrison’s daughters are grateful and inspired by Ursin’s kidney gift. 

“If it wasn’t for her, my dad would be more sick,” said Amiyah. “Miss Elizabeth was willing to prevent that. We respect her a lot.” 

“I definitely have love for Elizabeth,” Harrison said. “Now a part of her is a part of me. She is like a sister to me.”

The transplant opened both Ursin’s and the Harrisons’ eyes to health disparities between white and African-Americans and the need for organ donors. They say all donor testing, hospital stays and recovery are paid for, and the recovery wasn’t that bad. If her remaining kidney ever fails, Ursin is first on the transplant database.

Ursin and the Harrison family know their lives together have just begun.

“It is a privilege to be a part of this beautiful, loving and faithful parish,” Ursin said. “I am blessed that I was able to do this. God brought me to it and will get me through it. And, he did.”

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