Read personal accounts from living kidney donors, including why they decided to become donors, what they experienced during their donation journey and how being a donor changed their lives.
Before this experience, I did not know anything about living kidney donation. My father-in-law was in need of a kidney transplant, so 10 or 11 months ago, we all started the process to see if we were matches. No one in the family was a match. At that point, I just thought, well, I tried.
I am a state trooper in Minnesota. I work overnights, and during breaks, we would sometimes meet up with the local department. There was a guy there who was more of an acquaintance than a friend. One night, he mentioned that he only had one kidney—he had a birth defect and had to have one …
I donated my kidney to my daughter, Matilda, just after she turned two years old. The one really surprising thing I learned through this process was that an adult male’s kidney can be donated to and fit inside a toddler. Many people we speak with about our story have been shocked by this fact. Matilda …
On October 7, 2021, my wife and I took our 10-year-old daughter, Jaelle, to the ER because of rapid shallow breathing and a racing pulse. This was the first indication we had that something was wrong. She was diagnosed with kidney and heart failure with a BP of 250/150 and was transported to Helen Devos …
On March 4, 2022, I took the first step toward potentially becoming a living kidney donor. I filled out a simple online survey and submitted my information. On February 22, 2023, I became a living kidney donor as part of a paired exchange donation. My intended recipient received his kidney that same day at Emory …
The story of my kidney donation began when I came across an advertisement in my synagogue’s bulletin seeking a donor for a fellow member in need of an urgent transplant. The ad went on to encourage those who have A+ or O+ blood type to register online to schedule a compatibility test. Knowing I have …
When I went to nursing school, I assumed I would work in pediatrics or labor and delivery, but ended up quickly realizing those were not a good match for me. I graduated nursing school without any idea what path I wanted my career to take. Somewhat randomly, I decided to take a job on the …
I met David playing pickleball not long after moving from Oklahoma to Syracuse, New York. I had decided I wanted to play pickleball and meet new people, so I found a pickleball group on Meetup. We became friends, as he and I enjoyed playing together—and against each other. Sometimes we’d be the only two on …
My family has hereditary polycystic kidney disease. My mother has it, also my grandfather, three of my aunts and uncles, one cousin, and my little sister—that’s who we know of so far. I was lucky to be one of the ones that did not inherit the disease, and I have known for a long time …
I decided last year that I was going to anonymously donate a kidney. I watched a program about organ donation and learned how awful it was to go through dialysis. I had no idea. The idea of enduring this procedure 3 times a week, for the rest of their lives—it seemed like a terribly unfair way …