Donor Search Success Stories

Natalie Davis is sharing her kidney donation story in hopes more will consider the option. “I really just hope it inspires a lot more people to look into donating, especially being a chain donor,” she said. “You can save so many other lives by donating just one organ.” 

Theresa Crockett received a life-saving gift with help from New Kids on the Block. At a concert last year, Theresa held up a sign that said she was looking for a donor. The band brought the sign on stage and made an announcement. Another fan reached out to offer her kidney.

Before Joseph Sanchez-Munoz was even 1 year old, he had been diagnosed with dysplastic kidney disease (underdeveloped kidneys) and had had a liver transplant due to liver cancer. The chemotherapy for the cancer further damaged his kidneys and heart, and he received a kidney transplant at age 8 and a heart transplant at age 18.

Thirty years ago, Debbie Lein popped her head in the window of Janet Lyons’ SUV and asked if she wanted to be friends. They have been inseparable ever since, sharing memories, laughs, and even a kidney. Recently, they celebrated their friendship and the 10-year anniversary of the surgery that helped save Lein’s life.

In 1973, Guadalupe Alejos was one the first to undergo a kidney transplant at what is now known as Trinity Health Grand Rapids. Fifty years later, that kidney is still functioning and has allowed him to lead a full, happy and productive life.

In 2016, paramedic Kristi Hadfield saved John Cunningham’s life when he went into cardiac arrest. In January 2022, John’s daughter, Molly Jones, was diagnosed with Stage 4 renal failure. So Kristi saved her life, too, donating her kidney to Molly in December 2022.

Eddie McCarthy was watching the local TV news when he saw a familiar face on the screen: one of his high school math students, Roman McCormick. He had stage 4 kidney disease and his parents were desperately looking for a live kidney donor. No relatives were a match.

On the outside, Tim Hilterman and Brielle Trice couldn’t be more different. Hilterman is a 43-year-old investment advisor from Lexington. Brielle is a 12-year-old girl about to enter seventh grade at Highland Middle School. But on the inside, Hilterman and Brielle share one important thing: A kidney.

After receiving an end-stage renal disease diagnosis in 2018 and not finding a successful match among her inner circle, veteran NYPD Officer Melissa Quinones found an anonymous donor through the nonprofit Kidneys for First Responders.

Transplant recipients need expensive immunosuppressive drugs. Medicare will cover them, but until recently, the coverage stopped at three years. Some patients can lose their transplanted kidneys because of it. As of this year, Medicare is no longer limiting coverage of these drugs to three years.