“Everyone has always said I’m just like my mother, Diane Allday. So when she needed a kidney transplant, I just knew I was going to be a match. We are the same blood type and everything so I thought I would be able to fix it all because I was so much like her. I was like, ‘Let’s go get check that box and move on.’
“When they did the testing, they found that she had built up antibodies against me, and I was not a match. That was a long ride home in silence. There was a lot of not having the answers. A lot of asking why?
“I was still of the mindset that if I wasn’t a match one way, I was somehow, some way going to be a match in another. So I sent in the paperwork to become part of the UAB Kidney Chain.
“Momma had been on the deceased donor list for quite some time and had even gone to UAB a few times as a backup recipient, but had always come home empty handed. I had to fight her at first to allow me to be even be tested to be a living donor. She felt like she was burdening us, and she didn’t want to depend on anyone for so much. But I’m as stubborn as she is, and I was still going to fix it.
“Now we know there was a reason for those times we went up there and came home empty handed. We were able to affect more than just her life through the living donor side, and there is no price tag on that.
“My mother’s donor was a 23-year-old college student, and she now has a younger kidney than I do. And my recipient, Nolin Young, is in his early 30s, but he was diagnosed with a kidney disease at age 19.
“If you’re thinking about becoming a part of the UAB Kidney Chain as a living donor, don’t hesitate. Do some research and look at UAB’s program, which is one of the best in the world. Give the gift of life.
“One of the sayings they had on a sign at the ‘Celebration of life’ picnic for all the UAB Kidney Chain participants summed up the donation process best, and I have since used it as a motivational topic in meetings at work as well: ‘Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.’ If you do that for someone in need, there’s no way to put into words all the thank yous you’ll want to say or that will come your way.”