Contessa Terry - 23
"I knew this was going to be a possibility one day. I wanted to give him a kidney the first time, but I was too young. It never really occurred to me to second-guess doing this at all. Not one time."
"Unfortunately, we weren't a match for each other, so they asked if I would be interested in doing the paired donor program, and absolutely I was going to do that. I was determined that I was going to help him no matter what. Being a part of the chain, instead of helping one person, we've helped two. That's pretty special.
"I never had second thoughts about doing this. Even before he asked, when we knew he had kidney disease and had already had one previous transplant, I knew this was going to be a possibility one day. I wanted to give him a kidney the first time, but I was too young. It never really occurred to me to second-guess doing this at all. Not one time.
"The fact that we have a program like this here in Alabama that we were able to use this way and has literally saved my daddy's life ... you just can't put it into words what it has meant to us. And to be able to do this chain, it's given people a chance to live that they wouldn't have otherwise had. It's pretty amazing.
"I've been asked if I considered not following through and giving my kidney since my dad got his and I waited more than six weeks before I made my donation, but that never crossed my mind either. I mean, why would I do that? What if it had been the other way around and someone would have done that to him? That's not the kind of person I am, and it's not the way I was raised. I came to help, and that's what I always intended to do."