My mother and father taught my siblings and me the value of “family” first. They frequently sat us down as children and told us to love one another as they loved us – fully and unconditionally. I don’t know if they knew just how much those words would ultimately have an impact on us as adults and how much those “seeds of love” have been the foundation of the relationship between my siblings and me to this very day.

Many years ago, I registered to be an organ donor. I knew it was a decision that I did not want my family to have to make. Ironically, five years ago, I became increasing ill requiring several hospitalizations. The final diagnosis was a not so common form of nephrotic syndrome, which would ultimately lead to complete kidney failure. When the day came for me to go on dialysis my youngest brother, Daryl, and sister, Rosalyn, asked me if a kidney transplant was an alternative. I had not even considered asking anyone in my family to donate an organ and I was totally surprised by their offer. My brother Daryl was an identical match and the rest is history. His gift to me has given me “new life” and a “new attitude.”

It has been three years since my transplant and I live each day to the fullest. I often joke with my brother about my new love for the taste of chocolate and I attribute this new characteristic as an “added value” of getting a donated organ from someone who is a lover of chocolate. In return, Daryl often responds to my jest by saying that I should consider myself lucky if “that characteristic” is the only one that I can attribute to getting one of his kidneys.

Written by: Karen Wilson, Kidney Recipient