For Paul Small, the gift of life came from someone he’s loved since the day she was born: his daughter, Meredith Small Hibbard. In September 2017, Meredith donated a kidney to her father, restoring his health and ending his yearlong reliance on dialysis. Paul and his wife, Audrey, are now paying that gift forward with a contribution to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
For Paul, kidney failure had a genetic component, with his grandfather, father, uncle, and male cousins all experiencing kidney disease. Despite years of careful management with medication and lifestyle changes, Paul’s kidneys stopped functioning in October 2016. He says that when Meredith insisted on being tested as a potential donor, he resisted for months.
“I had tremendous guilt,” he recalls. “I remember walking the hospital halls the day after surgery while Meredith struggled to recover. To this day, I still have misgivings, but she’s perfectly fine.”
The Smalls’ gift will name a Team Room in the Honickman Center in Meredith’s honor. It will also support the work of Paul’s surgeon, Carlo Ramirez, MD, FACS, as well as the rest of the transplant team who helped the family in their journey, including transplant nephrologists Pooja Singh, MD, MBA, and M. Paula Martinez-Cantarin, MD. In addition, Paul lauds Frederick M. Fellin, MD, who has helped him manage an autoimmune disease for over 20 years and was a strong advocate of transplantation.
“They do God’s work,” says Paul, 68, adding that he still marvels at the choreography required for a successful transplant. “The sheer number of people involved is remarkable. They’re all angels and very dedicated to what they do.”
The Smalls’ philanthropy reflects their belief in Tikkun Olam, the Hebrew concept of repairing and improving the world. As they have navigated multiple health challenges together over 43 years of marriage, Paul says he and Audrey have come to understand that supporting medical research and innovation is about more than personal benefit.
“Without benefactors, a lot of this just doesn’t happen,” Paul observes. “What you give might not benefit you, but it could lead to discoveries and treatments that benefit someone else.”
To learn more or make a gift online, please visit: jefferson.edu/GiveSurgery or contact Kelly Austin at 215-955-6383 or Kelly.Austin@jefferson.edu.
Recommended Citation
(2025)
"Small Family Gift Supports Lifesaving Transplant Team,"
Jefferson Surgical Solutions: Vol. 21:
Iss.
1, Article 7.
Available at:
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/jss/vol21/iss1/7
Paul and Audrey Small with their daughter, Meredith Small Hibbert, in 2025.