By Ezra Silk

esilk@keepmecurrent.com

Joshua Dall-Leighton, the Windham man who received national attention after Maine Medical Center delayed his kidney donation, completed the operation at the hospital on Tuesday.

Christine Royles of South Portland left a sign on her car last year indicating that she was in search of a matching kidney donor. Dall-Leighton saw the message in December, contacted Royles, and raised nearly $50,000 on the website GoFundMe to fund his time off work during the surgery. The target for the campaign was $6,000.

Maine Medical Center officials, concerned about the fundraiser’s compatibility with federal laws designed to regulate organ transplants, conducted a legal review of the situation and announced on June 8 – following months of delays – that the operation would go forward.

On Tuesday, the hospital’s spokesman, Matthew Paul, announced that the kidney donation had occurred.

“Maine Medical Center and Maine Transplant Program teams on Tuesday morning completed a living kidney donation procedure involving altruistic donor

Joshua Dall-Leighton,” Paul said. “Having overcome challenges in this unprecedented process, we are delighted in that it resulted in a young woman receiving a life-saving organ transplant and enhanced awareness of the need for living donors.”

“We anticipate strong recoveries by both the donor and recipient and will continue to monitor their progress,” Paul added.

Dall-Leighton could not be reached for comment.