• LIVING DONATION

There are more than 103,000 people awaiting lifesaving organ transplants in the United States, and more than 80 percent of them are waiting for kidneys. The wait for a suitable match from a deceased donor could be several years, and many will struggle with the challenges of needing dialysis every few days.

One option for many of these patients waiting for kidneys, as well as liver transplants, is living donation. Living donation is when a relative, friend or even a stranger donates one of his or her kidneys, or a portion of the liver, to someone in need. Living donation significantly reduces the amount of time patients would otherwise spend on the transplant waiting list.

Living donation is very common – roughly 8,000 living donor transplants are performed each year – and one in four living donors is not a blood relative to their recipient.

THREE WAYS SOMEONE CAN BECOME A LIVING DONOR

1. DIRECTED DONATION
This is when the donor specifically identifies the recipient. Usually it is a blood relative, or perhaps a spouse,
friend or acquaintance.

2. NON-DIRECTED DONATION
This is when a generous person wants to donate but does not know to whom the donation will go. He or she
donates anonymously to a stranger.

3. PAIRED KIDNEY DONATION OR PAIRED KIDNEY EXCHANGE
This is when there are at least two pairs of individuals who want to donate to someone, but the donor and
recipient are not suitable matches. A computer would then match the living donors with recipients who are
compatible blood types, and new pairs of recipients and donors would align.

In addition to living kidney donation, an individual also can donate a portion of his or her liver.
The segment that is removed will regenerate to full-size in the recipient, and the donor’s liver will fully
regenerate as well.

LIVING DONATION RESOURCES

While LifeQuest does not facilitate living donation, there are three transplant centers in our donation service
area that perform living donor transplants. Please visit their sites to obtain additional information:
UF Health Shands Transplant Center in Gainesville

Mayo Clinic Hospital in Jacksonville

Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola

If you know of someone in need of a kidney or liver transplant and are interested in becoming a living
donor, discuss it with them and ask if the center where they are listed performs living donor transplants. If
you are interested in making an anonymous donation, you can reach out to a transplant center near you to
determine if they have a living donor program.

You can find a list of transplant centers nationwide here.

For more information on how to save lives through living donation, please visit the
Living Donation page of the UNOS website.

LIVING DONATION TESTIMONIALS

Over the years, LifeQuest has had numerous ambassadors who are either living donors or recipients of living
donation. Here are some of their stories:

Terri and Jeff: Wife of Organ Donor Makes Living Kidney Donation to Husband’s Recipient

When Bryan Herrington of Pensacola, Florida, died after falling from a roof in 2004, his wife, Terri, did not hesitate to donate his organs so that others could live.

Bryan provided the Gift of Life to four individuals by donating his heart, liver, pancreas, both kidneys and both lungs. Jeff Granger of Tallahassee, Florida, received Bryan’s left kidney and pancreas.

In the years following Bryan’s death and Jeff’s life-saving transplant, Jeff and Terri began communicating, at first anonymously, and later met in person. Their families stayed friendly over the years.

By 2019, Jeff’s health began to decline, as his kidney was failing. He would need another transplant to survive.  When Terri learned of Jeff’s situation, she did not hesitate to offer him one of her kidneys. Jeff struggled to accept that Terri was serious.  She was.  Equally as important – she was a match.

Terri and Jeff underwent their respective donation and transplant surgeries at UF Health Shands Transplant Center in Gainesville, Florida, on March 3, 2020. Terri’s kidney now resides just beside Bryan’s and has given Jeff another lease on life. Both Terri and Jeff are doing very well since their surgeries.

In 2019, there were 7,383 living donations in the United States. Of them, 6,860 were from kidney donors.

Watch the video of Terri and Jeff’s donation story.

Choose Another Living Donation Testimonial