It was one of those telephone calls that took me by surprise. Yelena Gass-Bronstein had phoned from her Olivette home asking if the Jewish Light could help her find a new kidney.
Actually, she was asking for readers’ help; the Light was just a conduit. She said she is at end-stage kidney disease and in desperate need of a living kidney donor.
She had come to the United States from Ukraine in 1991, with her husband, their 6-year-old daughter, her parents and her mother-in-law.
“There were multiple reasons why we came,” she explained. “The Soviet Union was on the edge of collapsing, the political and economic situation was really unstable, and we wanted a better, more predictable, life for our daughter.”
Her husband had an uncle in St. Louis, which is why the family settled here. They stayed because they liked it.
Gass-Bronstein became an American citizen in 1996. She went to college to study nursing, became a registered nurse and spent 26 years as a psychiatric nurse at Barnes Hospital. She worked throughout COVID, she said, retiring earlier this year.
She told me she received a second chance for a better life by moving to the United States. Now, she is seeking a second chance at her own life. Her reasons are pretty simple.
“I am the glue to my family,” she said. “I want to take care of my husband, be available to my daughter, live life. Hopefully, if my health conditions improve, I can give back to society.”
If you are interested in knowing more, you can email her at [email protected].
