A single number on a lab sheet started a conversation that changed everything. Here is what I eventually learned, and what I wish I had known from the start.
Month: May 2026
Beginnings & New Beginnings
A birthday used to be a simple circle on the calendar. Then a kidney transplant gave me a second beginning. This reflection looks at the two days that shaped my life, the gratitude that grew from them, and the gift of waking up to a future I once hoped for but could not see.
He Saved Someone Else’s Life Instead
Off-Campus star Belmont Cameli wanted to help a childhood friend by donating his kidney in 2018. When he wasn't a match, his kidney went to someone else and he ended up a link in a 14-person organ donation chain that saved seven lives.
Support System: My Mom
Chad reflects on the kind of love that shows up in the small things and ends up carrying everything. A Mother’s Day tribute to a woman whose presence changed a life.
Jon’s Kidney Failure Journey
A new father was diagnosed with kidney failure just before his daughter was born. He now spends up to 30 hours a week on dialysis and is searching for a living donor who can help him reclaim the life he wants with his family.
The Economist Who Figured Out How to Get Strangers to Save Each Other
Discover how Nobel Prize-winning economist Alvin Roth used economic theory to create kidney paired donation chains, a system that gives thousands a second chance each year. Part of an ongoing series about one man's kidney transplant journey.
Donation & Transplantation Statistics
More than 49,000 transplants changed lives in 2025, yet over 100,000 people are still waiting. With someone added to the list every 8 minutes, the need for organ, eye, and tissue donors remains urgent.
Video: What it’s really like to donate a kidney
When Lynn watched a close friend grow too weak to climb the stairs, she realized she had something that could change his life: a healthy kidney. Her decision to donate not only restored his strength but revealed the quiet power of living donation, a gift she calls “the best thing I’ve ever done.”