“When we first found out my sister, Victoria Smith, was sick, I made a joke and said, ‘If you ever need a kidney, I’ll give you one of mine.’ I didn’t know that down the road she really would need one. I had always checked the box to be an organ donor on my driver’s license, and we are really close, so there were never any issues for me. I was going to do it.
“Before she got the kidney, she couldn’t even go to the bathroom, which seemed crazy to me. But now she is back to her old self again. She is no longer on dialysis. Her whole lifestyle has changed for the good because someone donated her a kidney.
“Donating was an easy process and an awesome, life-changing experience. I was honestly a little nervous going into it; but the staff was nice, and everybody made me feel comfortable. They told me exactly what would happen, and what they said is exactly what happened. They prepare you very well for the surgery and for what’s going to happen afterward.
“I would like to educate more people about being a donor and that there is nothing to be afraid of. If someone is thinking about becoming a living donor to the UAB Kidney Chain, I would tell them it’s the best decision they could ever make because they will always have in the back of their mind that they helped change someone’s life.
“It makes it even more incredible knowing that something like this is taking place here in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. It is now the largest kidney chain in the world, and it makes me feel good that I am a part of it.
“Now when people ask me, ‘What’s the biggest thing you’ve done in your life?’ I can say, ‘I’ve donated a kidney and saved someone’s life.’ I don’t think it gets much bigger than that.”