28/02/2025
I donated my kidney to a stranger, at 65 years old! This proves a couple of really important life lessons: “We can do hard things!!” and, “retired” from a career does NOT mean “retired from making a difference.”
During the height of Covid in 2021 my husband’s beloved son, a central FL firefighter, contracted a very rare autoimmune illness which destroyed his kidneys. After many blood transfusions, he was considered “highly sensitized” and none of his family or close friends were a match for him. He eventually received a deceased donor kidney from a selfless donor family. What a monumental act of love. We were indescribably grateful.
But, something else was at play here – after learning all I could about kidney failure, and kidney donation, I had a recurring certainty playing nonstop in my head. Someone out there needed ME. Knowing what that gift of a kidney meant to our family, I simply had to “share my spare.”
Unbeknownst to me, a young husband and father of two in Florida, who was the same age as my stepson, was in desperate need of a kidney. He had a 1% chance of finding a match. Guess what? I was his 1%.
Donating my kidney to a stranger has been the most profoundly impactful, humbling, exhilarating endeavor of my lifetime. I started a chain of four operations that day, my kidney went to Justin, and in another operating room, his wife Megan also donated her kidney to a stranger, a young woman from Georgia. We all (tearfully) met in the hospital and refer to ourselves as “The fantastic four.” We are doing marvelously and will celebrate our 2nd “kidney-versary” together in May 2025.
I am now a tireless advocate for organ donation, spreading awareness wherever I go. A proud member of Kidney Donor Athletes, I am also the V.P. of the North Carolina Transplant Athletes and can often be found running area 5K events wearing organ donation t-shirts – and the occasional superhero cape.
I left the hospital that day with more than a new family. I had answered the call, I had listened to that voice that whispers “You are your brother’s keeper” and “You can do hard things.” I left there with a re-ignited passion and purpose, and the very humbling realization that I had indeed made a difference.
