BONNIE BOULANGER, an attorney with the Salem firm of Hatem & Donovan in Salem, had a special reason to celebrate the admission to the Bar last week of her friend Keith Diaz.

The two, both alumni of Pierce Law, share something special: his kidney. Last December, Diaz, a third-year law student weeks away from his final exams, donated one of his kidneys to Boulanger, who had been suffering from a worsening chronic kidney condition for several years. In a five-hour operation last Dec. 12 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a team of surgeons successfully completed the transplant, although Diaz survived a scare when physicians initially had difficulty restoring his breathing. Diaz was discharged within four days and has been healthy ever since. Boulanger overcame one rejection episode after the surgery and is still taking a series of medications to help her body accept the new organ, but her condition – and her prognosis – are much improved since the operation.

Diaz became Boulanger’s best hope for survival after three members of Boulanger’s family were disqualified as donors for medical reasons. "Like a lot of people, Keith had said to me that he would give me one of his kidneys if I needed it," she recalled. "He was aware of the situation, and when the third member of my family was rejected, he immediately volunteered. I didn’t want him to do it. It’s a big jump from a family mem ber doing that to asking someone who is a friend. It’s pretty stressful to think about putting someone’s life at risk like that, but he wouldn’t let it go. We debated it for many hours and he brought me around. He was committed to the idea from the get-go."

At the reception following the swearing-in, Diaz said that it was probably just about one year ago when he first found out that Boulanger had no one else to turn to for a donor. "I just stepped up to the plate," he said simply.

Boulanger said she wants everyone to know about her friend. "Some people were taken aback that Keith would be willing to do this for a friend, but I wasn’t really surprised. It just confirmed for me what kind of person he is."

Diaz, a New Hampshire native and New Boston resident, graduated from Pierce Law last summer and is still seeking a legal position.

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