Last week I was having snacks and a bourbon on the rocks with a couple of friends while in Madison for work. I was catching up with them when we got on the topic of my kidney donation and the subsequent birth of Kidney Donor Athletes. And then the question came. 'Why didn't you just … Continue reading “Why Didn’t You Just Donate Your Kidney and be Done With It? Why Keep Talking About It?” – I’ll tell you why.
A little over two years ago I stumbled across a post on social media about a local man who was searching for a kidney. He was my blood type, about a decade younger (30 years old) and had been on dialysis for five years. He was also a former cross-country runner and soccer player. His … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Kathryn!
I own a CrossFit gym in Beaverton, Oregon and on August 1, 2018, I donated my left kidney to one of my athlete’s 12-year-old son. Neil, the father of my recipient, Bransen (12 years old), aka Boom, has been a member of my CrossFit gym for 6 years. In March of this year, Neil came … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Melissa!
Donating a kidney at age 52 1/2 was a piece of cake, the chocolate kind with three scoops of ice cream, same flavor. On the receiving end was my sister, Nola. We are knocking on the door of thirty years since the big life-changing event for her. Nola had been on peritoneal dialysis for a … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Randy!
I’m a feisty 63 year- old, and I adore my four adult children and three young grandchildren. I also teach high school in Baltimore, Md. Many years ago, when I was a substitute teacher, I taught a young boy who had some medical issues. At the time I didn’t realize how serious his problems were. … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Leslie!
I wasn’t an athlete all my life: I couldn’t finish the mile during the fitness test in high school. But in my senior year of high school, I joined the dance team and decided that I liked fitness if I did it my way. I also rowed during my senior year and started my freshman … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Jenn!
My story starts way back in the “good ole days”, the summer of 1990 (Or I’m assuming it was the “good ole days”. I was about to be born so I have no clue.). A wonderful young couple was living the good life. They had been married for ten years, they lived on a nice … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Cody!
Life as a donor My name is Charlotte, I am 37 years old. I am a marathoner, an ultramarathoner, ironman and kidney donor. In 2015 we found out that my brother had end-stage kidney disease and was started on renal replacement therapy. His life changed in an instant, no longer footloose and fancy-free he would … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Charlotte!
I donated a kidney to my sister Pam on December 14th, 2017. It’s been a long journey for her as she was one of the first liver transplant recipients at University Hospital in Denver in 1990. This was also the year I ran my first ultramarathon, a 35-mile trail race in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Pam … Continue reading Meet Kidney Donor Athlete, Eric!
It’s August 1985. I’ve just graduated from high school and have headed off to college at Catholic University in Washington, DC. Homesick, immature and not at all sure where life is headed, I dive full-on into my freshman year of college soccer. We were a Division 3 program, playing a virtually exclusive Division 1 schedule against the powerhouse teams … Continue reading Bobby’s Journey – Athlete Donating on January 2, 2019