I never knew how much the “Share Your Spare” panel I attended on May 2019 at the university where I work would change my life. I had two acquaintances who had previously done direct kidney donations, which got me curious, but it wasn’t until I listened to the stories of the donors and recipients on the panel that really lit something inside … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Maranda!
Come Back Ken: My road to donation may have started a little different than most but we will get there. My journey started back in May 2018 while running the Buffalo marathon. Up until this point, I was always a weekend warrior and considered myself to be a somewhat decent athlete playing lacrosse and hockey … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Ken!
I’ve always been that girl who played just about every sport that was available to her. When I was little my days were spent on either softball fields or volleyball courts. As I got older, I turned to activities like karate, pilates, and running. I am now the owner of RunFit MKE, a studio in … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Karen!
I’m not a very superstitious person or one that really believes everything happens for a reason, but every once in a while it just feels like things are falling into the place they belong. One evening around Halloween in 2018, my husband and I were living with my brother and his girlfriend while our new … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Ashlie!
It all began after a run. I often “ran” into my aunt and uncle because they lived above me in our Chicago apartment building, but this time I wasn’t greeted with a very happy, “hello”. Panting and gassed, I tried my best to gather the information they relayed to me. “Did you hear about Liz?” … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Amy!
I never thought much about kidneys or organ donation. In fact, It was completely off my radar until we realized that my husband might have a gene mutation that inevitably leads to kidney disease. Nate, my husband, had two uncles with kidney disease who received transplants from their siblings. It was believed that only men … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Amy!
I honestly knew nothing about living kidney donation when I started this journey other than it was something that people did for their loved ones (I had no idea people donated altruistically either!). This all changed when, in February of 2018, my mom called to tell me that she was in kidney failure and … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Katie!
I donated my kidney to a stranger in December of 2014 at the age of 46. I am a bit embarrassed to say that the thought first came from social media. I had an acquaintance repost a photo of someone looking for a type O kidney donor on the back of their vehicle just after … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Lynn B!
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!
KDA 1 year update - To have a platform like Kidney Donor Athletes to share my donation story has been another unexpected benefit of sharing my spare. As an endurance athlete, I learned through success and failure what it takes to continue to keep my body running at age 59 and beyond. But a year … Continue reading Kidney Donor Athlete Skip’s Race Report and (almost) Kidneyversary!
