General Questions

How old are you?

17

Where are you from?

Bay Area CA

Transplant

What was your transplant?

Kidney, received April 10, 2013

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

autoimmune disease microscopic polyangiitis

How long did you wait for your transplant?

1 year

What was life like waiting for the transplant?

I couldn’t go to school for 6 weeks (I was 11 at the time). I had to hire a tutor for homeschool.

How was the road to recovery?

I could eat more food – I couldn’t eat sodium, phosphorus, potassium – and I could swim and be more active.

Was there any complications from the surgery?

Nope 🙂

What are you most excited about after being healthy?

Having more freedom with my life.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

My dad was the donor.

My dad was a living donor – he is a healthy adult.

Why did your dad decide to donate?

Both my mom and dad were tested to be my donor, but my dad was the match.

What does your future look like?

For now, college. But hopefully a healthy life, and a happy one.

What would you say to people considering to be an organ donor?

Do it. Especially as a living donor, because most people on the transplant list are waiting for kidneys.

General Questions

How old are you?

17

Where are you from?

Charleston, South Carolina

Transplant

What was your transplant?

kidney, received May 15, 2005 (age 2)

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

Congenital Nephrotic Syndrome

What was life like before transplant?

Don’t really remember, but I was gaining weight and my parents thought it was healthy, but it turned out it was water weight. So I was pretty normal.

How long did you wait for your transplant?

about a few months

How was the road to recovery?

We stayed in California for a summer and we spent 2 months checking up to make sure I was okay.

What can you do now after transplant?

Well, I couldn’t do anything when I was a child.

I have no limitations to anything. The doctors lifted a ban on contact sports.

What are you most excited about after being healthy?

Being here in general. I don’t know because I haven’t had a hospital visit since 3rd grade.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

Yes, it was his father.

Was it a male or a female? How old were they?

He is healthy and middle age.

How did he know he was eligible to be a donor?

They do a bunch of testing – they go from the oldest to youngest – and he was the second one tested.

Were there any complications?

No.

Why did he donate?

I think it’s because it’s his son and families are supposed to match.

What would you say to people considering to be an organ donor?

I think they should do research before deciding not to be an organ donor.

How do you celebrate your transplant date?

I don’t. It’s just a regular day.

Turner is a non-steroid patient. In 2004-2006 Stanford was doing a study on steroids to see if transplant recipients could not take steroids. He takes reliable immunosuppressants.

Why are you an active advocate for organ donation?

Turner has been to Washington, D.C. two times for transplant activism. The first time he raised money for hospitals. The second time was a communication between doctors, patients, and donors.

Because I’m very close with the hospital I’m at. If they ask me to do anything I’ll do it.

I’m doing a meetup of other transplant recipients in our cities.

What does your future look like?

I hope to stay an advocate for the transplant community but still move forward with my goals in life.

General Questions

How old are you?

17

Where are you from?

Cupertino, CA

Transplant

What was your transplant?

liver, received on July 20, 2003

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

biliary atresia

What was life like before transplant?

I don’t remember. I was 3.

What can you do now after transplant?

Everything is pretty normal.

What are you most excited about after being healthy?

I’m just excited that I am healthy.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

Yes, dad. He is healthy and middle aged.

Why did your dad decide to donate?

I think it was just something that he just did.

How did transplant affect your life?

I mean, I’m lucky that it doesn’t too much. But it’s something that’s there or it’s something that’s a unique thing.

Why did you decide to acknowledge your transplant instead of moving on?

I think it’s kinda cool and it is a part of me to be aware of. It is a part of me.

What would you say to people considering to be an organ donor?

I mean, obviously it’s a difficult decision. I, personally, think it’s a good decision as it has impacted my life.

General Questions

How old are you?

15

Where are you from?

Las Cruces, NM

Transplant

What was your transplant?

Liver, received August 2004, 9 months old

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

biliary atresia (she did a report of the condition at school)

What was life like before transplant?

I was a baby. I don’t know. But I know since the day I was born I was always sick.

How long did you wait for your transplant?

not long

How was the road to recovery?

I think it was kinda rough. I had pmneumia a lot of times.

What are you most excited about after being healthy?

To live like a normal person.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

Yes.

Sienna’s family found them on a newspaper. At 13, Sienna dug around hard to contact to family.

Was it a male or a female? How old were they?

Male. 9.

How did they die?

Drank the wrong milk (dairy allergy).

Who decided to be an organ donor? Their family or the donor themselves?

The family had to decide. It was a really hard decision for them.

Did you meet their family?

I never met them. I never knew them.

When she was 13, Sienna got curious and just wanted to see a picture of her donor. When she found his picture in a newspaper, she freaked out.

Sienna had to do a report of a medical condition for school, so she picked biliary atresia. Through her research, she found she could take a pill once a day, and now she is.

What would you say to people considering to be an organ donor?

Do it. You don’t need your organs when you’re dead.

General Questions

How old are you?

12

Transplant

What was your transplant?

Liver

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

biliary atresia

What was life like before transplant?

I don’t remember it, but my mom told me a little bit of it. I was definitely in a bit of pain.

How was the road to recovery?

It was definitely painful because I couldn’t eat for a couple of days but it wasn’t the worst.

What can you do now after transplant?

Um… I probably… I’m normally healthy all the time now. I can do everything now. I learned to swim and all that.

She couldn’t eat gluten.

What are you most excited about after being healthy?

I really don’t go the hospital anymore. I don’t like the hospital.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

No.

Was it a male or a female? How old were they?

Male. 17.

Did you meet their family?

My mom met his parents but I didn’t actually meet them.

Tatum does not know how it went and is not in contact.

Tatum’s dad was also willing to donate half of his liver.

General Questions

How old are you?

15

Where are you from?

Albuquerque, NM

Transplant

What was your transplant?

Liver, received Nov 2004, about 8 or 9 months old

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

Biliary Atresia

What was life like before transplant?

Honestly… I don’t know because I was a kid…but I felt really good.

How long did you wait for your transplant?

Idk, longer than Sienna but not long.

(Sienna and Grace were at the same hospital during their transplants)

How was the road to recovery?

Idk. Grace kept getting sick and switched from Prograf to Sirolimus.

What can you do now after transplant?

I can live properly.

What are you most excited about after being healthy?

Living a normal life and not being sick.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

All I know id I think he was 13 and died in a car crash.

Was it a male or a female? How old were they?

M. 13.

Who decided to be an organ donor? Their family or the donor themselves?

The family.

Did you meet their family?

No.

---

Grace and Sienna’s parents met each other in the hospital. They spent a lot of time as children sick together.

How was that like?

It made me feel like everyone was like me.

It was nice. I didn’t feel alone.

Did it help you?

It helped our families more than it helped her, for sure.

I think I wasn’t aware it wasn’t normal.

What would you say to people considering to be an organ donor?

Totally do it.

General Questions

How old are you?

15

Where are you from?

San Jose, CA

Transplant

What was your transplant?

Kidney, received July 24, 2018, age 13

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

Low Hemoglobin

What was life like before transplant?

Normal

How long did you wait for your transplant?

1 year

How was the road to recovery?

It was not that hard, but it wasn’t super duper easy.

What can you do now after transplant?

A lot more than I could before. I have a lot more freedom.

What are you most excited about after being healthy?

Being able to experience my teenage years to the fullest.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

No.

Would you like to?

Yeah, I would love to meet my donor family. I would thank them and make them feel that the kidney is in good hands.

What did you do to celebrate today? (today was the one year mark since her transplant)

My parents took me to a really nice restaurant and we told them it was my birthday.

How do you feel?

I feel very grateful and encouraged to do things out of my comfort zone.

What would you say to people considering to be an organ donor?

You’re saving a life without losing yours.

General Questions

How old are you?

16

Where are you from?

Menlo Park, CA

Transplant

What was your transplant?

Liver, received June 5, 2012, 9 years old

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

A.G.S.L. – Alagille Syndrome, which is a genetic disease of a mutated gene that makes it hard to process bile. It affects all organs but the liver was the worst.

What was life like before transplant?

I didn’t feel as well as I do now but I had to take a lot of medications. Towards the point I had my transplant I missed a bunch of school.

How long did you wait for your transplant?

¾ year

How was the road to recovery?

It was a long road to recovery. I think I had a pretty normal road to recovery for a liver transplant. There wasn’t anything abnormal about it.

What can you do now after transplant?

When I was younger – before my liver problem became worse – I could do normal stuff. As it got worse and worse, I had less energy and basic stuff became harder to do. I was supposed to have a transplant when I was one or two, but nobody knew why my liver stayed healthy for so long. So I got my transplant at nine instead. To put my liver in perspective, a normal liver is supposed to look pink but mine looked green.

What are you most excited about after being healthy?

I get to live longer than I would’ve. Knowing my life has been extended – sort of artificially – makes you value it more I think.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

No.

Would you like to meet your donor?

My donor is deceased.

Would you like to meet your donor family?

I’m not sure. It would be interesting at least to meet them.

I’d like to thank them… well… I’m not sure.

I don’t really want to meet them because I’m afraid they’ll be disappointed with the life I’m living now.

What would you say to people considering to be an organ donor?

They’d be helping someone. Helping to give life to someone else. As for live donors, I know it’s a difficult recovery program for live donors. For live donors, yeah, make sure you can handle it.

General Questions

How old are you?

17

Where are you from?

Bay Area

Transplant

What was your transplant?

liver, received July 2002

What was your condition that led to the transplant?

jaundice, biliary atresia

What was life like before transplant?

I had transplant at the age of 4 months so I don’t really have a backstory.

Donor

Do you know your donor?

All Khalieghya knows is her donor is a 4-year-old who drowned in a family pool and lived in Fresno.

How do you know that information about your donor?

The doctors told my mom, and my mom told me. My mom didn’t know that a transplant can come from mixed races, so when she found out it was from a white boy who drowned and his family decided to donate she asked a lot of questions.

Did you search for your donor?

I searched for my donor. I still do. At this point it’s been a 17 year search and if I do find them and talk to them it’s been a 17 year break of their son dying ang it would bring back memories.

What is your hospital picture?

The hospital took a picture of Khalieghya when she was 3, 4. Donate Life promoted donation by putting her picture in DMVs and hospitals.

What were the commercials you were in?

The commercials were about donation and telling our stories. Khalieghya stood there and her mom talked.

Do people recognize you?

Yes, actually. They’ll either be like ‘You look like a little girl I saw in the hospital’ or my mom would take a picture of me next to the poster and say ‘Oh, is that you?’

What would you say to people considering to be an organ donor?

They should definitely do it because they save innocent little children.