Lornette Stewart - 1
“She’s just a beautiful person. The fact that Paula would come forward and donate to a stranger, to me, it was an act of obedience. She heard what God said, and she just did it."
“I didn’t realize so many people are impacted by kidney disease until all of this started with me. I was adamant that I wasn’t going to do dialysis, and they had to convince me to do it. I had heard horror story after horror story about it. But I was blessed with how I was able to tolerate it. My life went on, and that’s what I wanted; I wanted to live. But eventually, I had no choice. I had to have a kidney. I probably could have stayed on dialysis for a while, but I was looking forward to a transplant.
“My daughter, Jovi Williams, donated on my behalf. Initially, when we first started the process, Jovi was a perfect match for me, but I wound up having to get a transfusion which changed my antibodies, and that canceled that out.
“That’s what led us to get into the paired kidney donation program. But I didn’t approach my daughter about it. I wanted it to be her decision. They called her after Paula came forward and asked her if she was still willing, and she was.
“Now, I’m back home in Florida. Everything is good. Every day I get stronger and stronger. As a believer, I know the reason I made it through is because of my faith.
“One of the great things about this chain for me was the opportunity to meet my donor, Paula Kok, the person who helped get this chain started. When she first donated, she asked to remain anonymous. Then she gave the coordinator permission for me to e-mail her.
“We got to sit down and talk and enjoy each other’s company. And as we learned more about each other, we discovered that we were in Orlando, Fla., in basic training together in the summer of 1986. We never knew each other when we were in basic training together.
“She’s just a beautiful person. The fact that Paula would come forward and donate to a stranger, to me, it was an act of obedience. She heard what God said, and she just did it. She was adamant about doing what God told her to do. That’s what’s amazing about her, and it also shows what our God does. This is something that was planned much farther back than we even know. He orchestrated everything.”