"For me, this whole process started because I wanted to do my part to help my brother-in-law, James Oliver. I just wanted to get tested and see if I was a match for James. I didn’t know anything about the paired donation program, but it was only about two or three weeks after I was tested that they found a match for him, and they asked me if I wanted to move forward, and I said yes. I didn’t want him to miss out on the opportunity to get a kidney.
"I didn’t really ever have any second thoughts about giving. I was never really nervous about it. I was willing to do it from the jump. I’ve never had a major surgery, and this was the first time I’d ever been in the hospital.
"James is married to my sister, Dawn. They’ve been married for 25 years. They started dating when I was 10 or 11 years old. He would take me fishing, take me to his softball games, pickup football games. He never let me catch any dang fish though. He’d stick me off in the corner where the fish wouldn’t bite.
"We’re almost like brothers. We’ve been friends, I guess you would say, for a while. We’re family.
"I’m glad he’s had this transplant and I’d like to see him get back on the lake fishing and hunting. It will be good for him to be able to get on his lawn mower and cut grass if he wants too, just get back to normal. I’ll even go fishing with him again, even though I’ve given up on him letting me catch any fish.
"I have to admit that I was skeptical of the chain at first, but it was because I wasn’t educated on it. I’d never heard of doing anything like this. But giving my kidney to somebody else is just as good as me giving my kidney directly to him. And when you think about it, two people are going to have a better quality of life. That’s a pretty special thing."
Robert Butler - 27
"I’d never heard of doing anything like this. But giving my kidney to somebody else is just as good as me giving my kidney directly to him. And when you think about it, two people are going to have a better quality of life. That’s a pretty special thing."