Bill in General Assembly would increase the tax credit for living organ donors

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — After returning home from Iraq, Army veteran Kellen Leech, who was deployed three times over the course of 14 year, wrestled with his mental health: PTSD, survivor’s guilt and depression — until he read a Facebook post about Ellery Payton.

Payton’s previous kidney transplant failed, and in 2012 he needed another one; Leech, a Prince George’s County, Maryland, resident, decided he wanted to donate his.

After finding out his kidney matched, Leech’s mind was set on the surgical procedure in pursuit of mutual healing, but to “sustain” himself it would cost his deployment savings. He had to delay his donation for two months while he “scraped money together” from his church and local veterans organizations.

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