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Kidney Donor Athletes
Athlete Archive
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Max!
My name is Max and I’m originally from Chicago, Illinois. When I was 26 I donated a kidney to a stranger who has since become a close friend. I'm a lifelong climber and outdoor enthusiast usually spending over 230 days in the mountains a year doing various sports...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Angie!
My name is Angie. I am 45, married, living in Ohio, and a mother of two (ages 22 and 24). I became a kidney donor in December 2023 at the age of 44 through a paired exchange. In mid-2023, my sister told our family that her husband, Steve, needed a kidney transplant....
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Larissa!
My path to kidney donation probably started 30 years ago! I married my amazing partner, Scott, in 1997. We knew Scott had a progressive kidney disease, but he was asymptomatic. We were young and felt invincible. We started great careers, bought a house with a nice...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Kaci!
I am an altruistic living kidney donor who often jokes that I gave away my kidney at the quick lube. My journey into the world of organ donation started with this simple act, but it led to a profound transformation in my life. I was so deeply moved by the...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Austin!
My name is Austin, and at 25 years old, I donated my left kidney altruistically to a young girl in Wisconsin that I had never met before. My donation journey began when I was a freshman at NYU studying aerospace engineering. One day, I had a dream about kidney...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Paula!
The decision to become a kidney donor sort of fell into my lap. It started in 2018 when I saw an episode of American Ninja Warrior in which contestant Austin Grey presented his story as a kidney donor athlete. As a runner, I was inspired by his act of giving and...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Angie!
My name is Angie and I am proud to be a living kidney donor! I have been blessed with great health and a drive to take care of my body through staying physically active and eating right. I love to work out and walk/run every day, it has been a part of my day for 25+...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Bob!
I was seventy-two and a half years old when I donated my left kidney to a recipient who I did not know at the time of the donation. I live on Long Island in New York. The recipient, interestingly, was seventy-five years old when he received my kidney. While living...
Meet Kidney Donor athlete, Grace!
My name is Grace Sims, and I am an active Colorado native. I love to be outside and love the mountains. I run (road and trail), snowboard, ski, hike, bike (mountain + gravel). I have a successful career and am working as a Vice President of Supply Chain. I...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Mike!
My name is Mike Ramsey. I am 51 yrs old from the great state of Wisconsin, and I donated my left kidney on September 13,2023. I had the honor of giving the gift of a better life to my wife. She had PKD which progressed to kind failure in 2020, at that point she...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Liza!
I’m a pescatarian, asthmatic retired educator with adult children. Although I’ve always been active, I don’t tend to think of myself as an “athlete” since I don’t like to compete. The back of the pack is the place for me. My running resume includes a ton of 5 &...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Karl!
My name is Karl Ludwig, and I donated my left kidney to my college instructor (now good friend and brother) Aaron on September 1, 2023. I am an avid rock climber, but my love for being active, especially in the outdoors, extends in many directions. Currently I like to...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Cara!
My name is Cara Syth and I am a runner and kidney donor from Menomonie, Wisconsin. I didn’t start running until later in life. At age 35, I had low back pain and a deconditioned core. I wasn’t feeling great and was not very physically active. I decided that something...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Joan!
I’m 69 years old. When I was 55 I donated a kidney to a man who, at the start of things, was a stranger to me.In 1950s and 60s, athletic pursuits for girls were uncommon, or even nonexistent. That void included me. By the time I was twenty-five years old and...
Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Molly!
My name is Molly Von Lindern and I’m 29 years old. On February 23rd, 2023, I donated my left kidney to my mom. It was a laparoscopic robotic surgery done by the amazing transplant team at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. This...