For Raptors’ Rogers, the Effort Was There

DETROIT — The sister of Toronto Raptor player Carlos Rogers died Friday only hours after he rushed to her bedside, offering to donate one of his kidneys at the risk of his multimillion-dollar basketball career.

Rene Rogers, 29, had been in critical condition with an infection from a previous kidney transplant.

“My sister fought a long and hard battle,” Rogers said at a news conference, wiping away tears. “It’s kind of hard to sit here now and talk about it.”

Rogers arrived at Henry Ford Hospital late Thursday saying he was “100% willing” to undergo the transplant surgery, but doctors said his sister was simply too sick.

Even if she had recovered, doctors said it would have been years before she would be strong enough to have another transplant.

Rogers, 25, a reserve forward making $1.14 million this season, has four children and helps support his mother and most of his 10 siblings. He was the only relative with a kidney compatible with his sister’s.

“He’s truly to be commended. Rene has always held him in high regard,” Dr. Warren Kupin said. “He didn’t even think twice about his career.”

Kupin said Rene Rogers’ infection stemmed from medication she has been taking since she received a donated kidney in 1992. The medication, taken to prevent the body from rejecting the donor organ, sometimes overwhelms the immune system, making a patient susceptible to bacterial infections.