Success
Stories

Marc Coronel
Living Kidney Recipient

When I was diagnosed with Kidney failure, I was depressed and felt alone. I felt like I was the only one with this disease. I felt emotionally detached from the world. Like an emotional caveman! I was the only one in my immediate family with this disease.

It was so important to me to get a Living Donor because of the toll that dialysis had on my body. I now feel Amazing since I had my transplant.

My Living Donor Shawna is my Hero! She gave me a second chance on life! Un repayable! She is my Superhero in my Comic Book!

If Just a Kidney was around when I was going through the process of finding a Living Donor it would have helped me understand that people are willing to help. It gives people an opportunity to share their story and find a Living Donor. It opens up avenues of hope!

 

Sharon Weldon
Living Kidney Donor

I always thought I would like to donate a Kidney my whole life. I had read that donating a Kidney doesn’t impact your health & it makes such a difference in somebody else’s life. When John’s situation came up, it was a double pleasure, someone that I knew and someone’s life I could save!

My experience with Living Kidney Donation was very positive, not only because I had thought about doing so for awhile but the opportunity to help someone in my extended family made it even more gratifying!

I feel wonderful & have no problems since donating. Everything is normal. I get checked out by my Dr. all the time. I am very healthy and I work out at the gym. A few days after the transplant I was walking around, shopping and going to Museums. I had no pain! UCLA was great, they did a full work up on me prior to donating to make sure I was healthy enough to donate.

If Just a Kidney was around when I was thinking about donating it would have motivated me to do it sooner. I always thought it was an admirable thing to do but I didn’t know how to go about donating to somebody.

 

Shawna Robinson
Living Kidney Donor

I’ve always been a donor since I was sixteen. I’ve donated blood and platelets. I was always interested in kidney donation but I never took it upon myself to do the research. So once my friend notified us that Marc needed a kidney, I responded back “I’m gonna get tested!” It was automatic for me, I just knew I wanted to do it! I was very excited that all the appt’s were gonna pay off. I was excited that he was gonna get his wish!

It’s been 10 months since I donated and I am feeling great! I just had a check up and all my labs and everything are really good! I have no issues! I have awesome scars on my stomach that I love and am very proud of. And I have a Great story!

If Just a Kidney was around when I wanted to donate, I could have talked to people who had done it before and it would have been a really huge benefit and resource for me. When I was going through the process I didn’t have anyone to talk to that had been through it. I think that there aren’t enough stories of people that need help. I could have done it on my own if I had the Just a Kidney App!

John Davis
Living Kidney Recipient

I wasn’t used to having bad breaks in my life. I had been very lucky and fortunate up until my diagnosis. I got to go to college, I met my wonderful wife Janice, “She liked me!” The diagnosis was a real set back, knowing that I had two kidneys I thought well if one works I will be okay, it was not the case.

I was so fortunate to have Sharon come forward and offer hers to me. I feel like Sharon and I are very close now. We don’t get to see each other often because we live in different States. Mostly around the Holiday’s. I refer to her as my Sister! I never had a Sister before, I was always an only child until now.

My health got much better after the transplant. I didn’t mind the dialysis at first, all I needed was Janice to give me a ride. Janice is the Champ here! But eventually it took a toll on me and my body. I can travel now with ease. Before there were limitations on where we could travel because of dialysis. I had to make sure that wherever we went there was a dialysis center near by. But the best part, is now I can pee!!

If Just a Kidney was around it would have helped me find a Living Donor. The Medical Center where I was registered didn’t give any information on how to go about finding a Living Donor. I really needed to find a Living Donor because the wait time for a cadaver donor was very long. I got lucky when Sharon offered and the rest is history!