Recipient Stories

Organ, eye and tissue donations can have a lasting impact on transplant recipients and their loved ones. Hear real-life stories from individuals who have received lifesaving and life-enhancing transplants, thanks to the generosity of donors and their families.

Real-life stories of organ and tissue donation (Midwest Transplant Network, Kansas and Missouri)

Joe Rethford

Thanks to donor tissue used for reconstruction, Joe was able to get back to normal life after falling from a ladder and suffering devastating compound fractures in both wrists.

Riding motorcycles and playing guitar are two of Joe’s favorite hobbies – hobbies he didn’t think he’d ever be able to enjoy again after falling from a ladder and suffering compound fractures in both wrists.

Gentleman Nguyen

After his liver transplant, Gentleman spends his time going to the gym and living a healthy life to take care of the gift he received, thanking his donor and donor family every day.

Shortly after Thanksgiving 2012, Gentleman received the call that a liver was waiting for him. “I have much to be thankful for and feel better now than I have in a long time,” he said.

Sarah Grant & Tori Walker

In desperate need of a kidney transplant, Tori wrote a poem called “Are You the One?” and posted it on the Facebook page of her church. Sarah saw the poem and answered “yes.”

Generous, giving and compassionate are just a few of the words used to describe Sarah. As a wife, mother and intensive care trauma nurse, it is these characteristics that make her so good at her job – and the perfect person to donate one of her kidneys to nearly a complete stranger.

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Read about donor families and the impact their loved ones made, or tell us about your own personal experience with organ donation.

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1900 W. 47th Place, Suite 400
Westwood, KS 66205
913-262-1668