Hailee Carson – Liver Transplant Recipient

April 18, 2017, the day I found out I was sick. I went in for gallbladder surgery and come out to news that I needed a liver transplant and soon because my liver was just not doing its job. I was officially diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease and genetic mutation disorder that caused my […]

Emma Allen – Kidney Recipient

Emma was born with no functioning kidneys and in renal failure. She had surgery at just 5 days old to place dialysis catheters and she has been on dialysis since around a week old. She was in the hospital for the first 127 days of her life. At home her parents care for her complex […]

William Ramey – Heart Recipient

It all started in 2014 when I had my first heart attack. Six months later, I had my second heart attack. It has been hard at times. I currently have a Heartmate 3 LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) that keeps my heart going. It took me about four years to get on the transplant list. […]

Donna Jones Baker – Heart and Kidney Recipient

Once upon a time, for what seems like a long, long time ago, I was a hard-charging, extremely busy, nonprofit executive with dozens of meetings each day. I had places to go and people to see with a 30-year history of dedication to the community. Then, “something” happened on Sunday night, April 17, 2017. That […]

Troy Biggs – Kidney Recipient

My name is Troy Biggs. I am currently on the kidney transplant wait list. We are actively searching for a living donor. I have been on the transplant waiting list for just a little over 6 weeks. It was a shock when we heard the words……it’s time to get you placed on the organ transplant […]

I Needed A Second Transplant: Tim Hanner’s Story

I was forewarned that my disease may return and attack my new kidney, so although I was very disappointed to need a second transplant, I was not shocked. The hardest part for me was telling my sister, who was my kidney donor. I somehow felt I had let her down although it was beyond my […]

David Wood – Kidney Recipient

“What it means to me is having the health to be able to perform my work as a firefighter, and to be able to give back to the community and my family.” – David Wood I was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) when I was in high school. Over the next several years my […]

Maryellen Witte – Liver Recipient

“It means, to me, that there’s nothing that I would really care to change in my life. I’m very happy with the ways things are.” – Maryellen Witte My life was impacted in 1977 in a way I wouldn’t know for years. After receiving blood during surgery, I was infected with Hepatitis C. My life […]

Lynn Swartz – Liver Transplant Social Worker

“I make sure the team understands that the patients are not their disease. They are a person, and we need to treat them wholly, no matter what reason they need a transplant.” – Lynn Swartz I feel incredibly blessed to be a liver transplant social worker and to have the opportunity to work with those […]

Jon McSorley – Liver Recipient

“It’s dreaming about what it was three years before the diagnosis, and then, hopefully, dreaming what it will be after the transplant.” – Jon McSorley I was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) in October of 2016. PSC is a rare, chronic and potentially serious bile duct disease that can be cured with a liver […]