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Regular Session, 2011 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 136
BY SENATOR MILLS
A RESOLUTION
To commend Xavier Alexander for his courageous act in donating a kidney to his father.
WHEREAS, the National Kidney Foundation indicates that potential kidney
recipients must be thoroughly evaluated to ensure a good candidate and donor match is
confirmed; and
WHEREAS, if the potential recipient has been approved for a transplant, any
potential living donor can then proceed with the possibility of donating; and
WHEREAS, many people requiring transplants cannot receive them due to a shortage
of donations, as there are more than two thousand new names added to the national waiting
list with an average of eighteen people dying each day while waiting; and
WHEREAS, someone with kidney failure, often called "end stage renal disease", has
three options for treatment: dialysis, a transplant from a deceased party, or a transplant from
a living donor; and
WHEREAS, on April 15, 2007, and at the age of forty-five, Mr. Stephen Isadore
Etienne, father of Xavier Isadore Alexander, began receiving dialysis treatment; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Etienne and his family knew that dialysis was only a temporary
solution for his acute kidney failure; and
WHEREAS, with a history of hypertension and diabetes, two major contributors that
cause kidney failure, the Etienne family knew that a kidney transplant was a preferred
alternative; and
WHEREAS, to identify a donor, Mr. Etienne was supported by his wife, Joann
Alexander Etienne, his family, friends, and many of his Omega Psi Phi Fraternity members,
who willingly chose to get tested to become a donor match; and
WHEREAS, because of his health and athletic conditioning, Xavier confirmed he
was a compatible donor for his father; and
WHEREAS, even though Mr. Etienne wanted to wait for a living donor from the SR NO. 136 ENROLLED
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national donor program, Xavier insisted and decided to forego his senior year of baseball at
the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he was ranked second in the university's
history of twenty-three consecutive games hitting streaks; and
WHEREAS, after a stellar junior season, Xavier would have had the opportunity to
play professional baseball, but choose instead to become a living donor for his father, and
planned the surgery a few months after his college graduation; and
WHEREAS, on July 2, 2008, the surgery was scheduled at the Louisiana State
University Transplant Clinic at the University Medical Center in Lafayette, Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, on the day of surgery, and at the age of forty-six, Mr. Etienne was tense
and nervous, but his nerves and mental state were quickly calmed as he saw twenty-three
year old Xavier joking and laughing with the nurse who was preparing him for surgery; and
WHEREAS, the successful surgery was performed by Dr. Daniel Frye, who
explained to Mr. Etienne and Xavier that recovery time and pain level for the donor would
be harder than the recipient; and
WHEREAS, after seven months of post-surgical health complications, Xavier
accepted a math teaching position with the St. Mary Parish School Board, while working on
a Master's Degree at Nichols State University; and
WHEREAS, after two years of teaching, Xavier decided to apply for and entered law
school at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, certainly, transplant recipients feel more than fortunate to receive a
donor match, but for Mr. Etienne, it was something extraordinary to receive his donor kidney
from his youngest son; and
WHEREAS, since the successful surgery, Xavier's parents often reminisce of when
Xavier was a toddler, and when asking him what he wanted to become when he grew up,
Xavier said "a hero"; and
WHEREAS, today his childhood dream of becoming a hero was realized, when he
became his father's hero.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend Xavier Alexander for his courageous act of donating a kidney to his
father. SR NO. 136 ENROLLED
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Xavier Alexander.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE