Donor Search Success Stories

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.

In December 2021, Rachel Harrelson, learned she was in advanced kidney failure due to IgA nephropathy and would need a transplant. She had a vacation planned in June, so she figured she would have the transplant in July, Then she found out the wait time was 4-5 years.

June 1 is a day Eric Warnke has waited for a long time. The 23-year-old is having a kidney transplant at UW Health in Madison. It’s a surgery he’s needed since November 2021.

Every Thursday, Sam Moses heads to the park for ultimate frisbee practice. That ended in 2021 when he had to go on dialysis, but one of his teammates, Emily Brixey, volunteered to be his kidney donor. The surgery was November 17, and just three months later, both Moses and Brixey were back playing ultimate frisbee.