Donor Search Success Stories

An estimated 17 people die each day in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant from a deceased donor, according to federal data. The vast majority are in need of a kidney. But simply waiting to get pulled off the years-long waitlist is not their only option.

There’s a bit of a role reversal going on in St. Paul. The man known for gifting needs a specific gift for himself to survive.

Jennifer VanderPoel thought she’d exhausted her pool of potential kidney donors. Sitting on her living room couch in Grand Rapids, the bubbly mom, wife and former assistant professor had no idea she was about to learn otherwise.

John Bourjaily feels blessed to be alive this Christmas after receiving a kidney from his daughter.

Through a friendship forged by a shared love of Harry Potter, Megan Carpenter donated her kidney to her best friend, Misty Brooks, giving her a new lease on life just before the holidays.

When Ron Gurley’s wife put out a call for kidney donors to his local triathlon club, training buddy Sheila Gibson stepped up.

A Kansas State University senior from Wichita is in end-stage kidney failure. She just found out that one of her classmates has stepped up to be her organ donor.

Back in 2014, Dan Christner was told by doctors that he was most likely going to need a kidney transplant at some point in his life. Nearly a decade later, the time finally came.

This Thanksgiving, a Baldwin County woman is giving a New Hampshire teen something to be thankful for: the gift of life. Bethany Agee is donating a kidney as a living donor.

When Columbus Blue Jackets staff member Lindy Noel learned The Athletic sports writer Aaron Portzline needed a kidney, she went through the testing and was approved to donate one to him.