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This page is for living organ donors and their recipients. The stories below were sent in from people who’s lives were changed because of living organ donation. Please send us your anecdotes and thoughts about what living organ donation has meant to you so that they may also be posted here.
I am 52 years old and in August of 2000, was able to give my brother a kidney. He was dying a little every day before the transplant and now he is living more everyday than he ever did before. I am grateful that God chose me to save him. I am grateful for my loving and supportive family. For the medical professionals who did such a wonderful job and treated me so well. Would I do it again? Absolutely. My new husband Alan and I got married in October of 2000, just two months after the surgery. My brother Mike came to PA from Atlanta and danced at my wedding. What more could I ask for? — Gloria
I would like to tell you about “My Hero”. His name is Richard Strickland, and he is my big brother. Richard is the oldest son in our family. I am the baby of seven children. Richard is 55 and I am 40. When I was first diagnosed with kidney failure, my brother was the first to step up to the plate and offer his kidney. He had no idea what it was going to entail, yet there was never any doubt that he would be the one to donate even before we were type-matched. My other brother and my sister also type-matched and were also found to be a match. Richard would not hear of it, he was the oldest brother and he was going to be the donor, that’s all there was to it. He lives 800 miles from me and had to make several trips here during the type-matching and the physicals that followed. Never once did he ask about the financial aspect of this. He was so selfless the whole time. He even drove several times to see me before the surgery when he thought that I wasn’t sounding too good on the phone. He’d just show up to cheer me up and make me feel better during a very scary time. I know that I’m not the best writer and all … I wish I had the words to express how I feel about my Big Brother Richard, but when I saw your word “Hero”, I knew that this was what he is to me … My Hero — Karen
Hi, My name is Nancy. On September 12th, 1978, I donated a kidney to my older sister stricken with Juvenile Diabetes. Then in December of 1980, I donated one half of my pancreas to the same sister. We are both doing very well. My sister is free of diabetes for almost 20 years now and has never had any episodes of rejection. She is the LONGEST SURVIVING PANCREAS TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT IN THE WORLD. If I could do it again, I most certainly would. Medical technology can only do so much. To see my sister deteriorating before my eyes, I knew that if I could do anything to help I would. This was truly an amazing experience — Nancy
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