“I remember the day they told us my daughter, Kendra, had kidney failure. I felt my knees buckle, and I thought I was going to pass out. I was totally devastated.
“I didn’t know a whole lot about dialysis and what it entailed. It really consumes your whole life, because you have to live around the treatments, and she was in college at the time. But she pressed through, continuing her treatment straight through school and graduating right on time. I was proud of her, because I knew what she went through during that time.
“We had actually hoped that she would get a transplant soon after her diagnosis, then six months passed, a year, two years, and then you realize, ‘OK, this is going to take a whole lot longer than we expected.’ Then I was with Kendra at UAB for her evaluation, and they started talking about the kidney chain. I didn’t fully understand; but I understood enough to know that, if I gave a kidney, she could receive a kidney. And that’s all I needed to know.
“I didn’t have any real concerns, because I went through all the tests, and they would not have taken my kidney if it were going to put me in danger. They checked absolutely everything. And I always put God first, so with that there is no concern — he is going to take care of everything.
“We had the surgeries April 7, 2016. I met my recipient, Dianna, in the hospital. She was great. It was very emotional. For her, they couldn’t find the reason her kidney had failed; but she was actually only on dialysis for two weeks, which is such a blessing. We text each other every now and then to see how the other is doing, and we’re both doing well.
“People see me now and ask, ‘Are you OK?’ They know I gave a kidney, and they think that changes something about you. It’s the just fear of the unknown. If you are able to donate, it is well worth if it. So many lives will be touched. For me, it was about my daughter; but I realized it’s even bigger than us — it’s the man who gave her a kidney, and his friend who received a kidney, and Dianna, and Dianna’s son who gave a kidney to someone — it just keeps going on and on.”