My name is Karen, and I donated my kidney to a friend in October of 2018. My story is a little different than most of the ones you read here, because I experienced a very rare complication that took a lot of time and suffering to fix. I think it’s a valuable story to read … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Karen!
What brings me here are the three most important things I’ve done in my life: I married Amy, a sweet, honest, curious, clever and adorable woman, who has lived with type 1 diabetes for a long time. We adopted Holly, the funniest human being I have ever known when she was 3 months old. She’s … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Jason!
I donated my left kidney to a complete stranger on October 3rd, 2017. I saw an ad on Facebook and I knew I was meant to be her donor. I answered the ad Memorial Day Weekend of 2017 and was approved by August! I have never thought of myself as an athlete before surgery and … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Kathleen!
For most of my adult life, I've been an ultradistance athlete including 100-mile trail races, 100-mile snowshoe races in Alaska, 9 Eco-Challenge Adventure races (multi-sport, multi-day), and other ultradistance events around the world. In May of 2018, I became an anonymous kidney donor because it was my turn. My wife Pam has had 3 transplants; … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Mark!
My name is Shayna, and I’m a powerlifter turned 1-kidneyed CrossFitter! My journey to donation started when my 24-year old brother-in-law became sick several winters prior. After a month of testing and hospitalizations, he was put on dialysis and added to the transplant list after learning his kidneys had completely shut down from an unknown … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Shayna!
The time has come! KDA has grown to the point that we need a working Board of Directors! If you are interested in serving in a Board position and have the capacity to do up to 5 hours of work each month, please email us at tracey@kidneydonorathlete.org by midnight on January 19th, 2020. On January … Continue reading KDA is Forming a Board of Directors!
My name is Emily, and my first exposure to living organ donation was in high school. I was friends with a young man who found himself in liver failure at the age of seventeen and our pastor’s wife donated a lobe of her liver to him, saving his life. Now, fifteen years later, he and … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Emily!
I was so excited to get that call… I remember when I called my mother who was in Florida (where she lives), telling her that I agreed to move forward… her words to me “Are you sure”... I couldn’t have been any more certain of that. When you see someone go through a medical condition … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Jenn!
My father's need for a kidney came about 12 years ago while I was still serving in the military. I was in the middle of a weeklong training exercise when my commanding officer notified me that a Red Cross message had been sent and that my father had been hospitalized. Once I gained access to … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Nick!
In 2009, at 247lbs, I was the heaviest I had ever been in my life and although exercise had been a part of my life in the past, it was never something I could quite get to stick. I was overweight and overwhelmed. I’m not even sure I realized it but I was waiting for … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Jen!
