Do you know what the National Kidney Foundation of Utah does with your Charity Car Donation?

/0 Comments/in /by

Kidney Cars donations fund  hundreds of thousands of dollars in patient services we offer Utah Kidney Patients.

We received three thank you letters today from Utah kidney patients who were given Medical Emergency Grant assistance. Please know how grateful the National Kidney Foundation of Utah & Idaho is for each and every single charity car donation made to towKars.org

From Robert B:

My name is Robert.  Sometimes it is hard to come up with the words when somebody steps up and helps you do something that you can’t do for yourself.  They raised my rent where I live, and could not only ‘not afford it,’ but could not afford to move.  I was wondering how I could stay at my apartment that was so close to dialysis.  I just happened to ask the counselor over here at the Kidney Clinic if there was any help available for maintaining my living situation.  My income is fixed due to not being in good enough health right now to receive a kidney transplant.  I look forward to working again once I get on the transplant list.  In the meantime, I’m limited.  So when the rent is raised, it’s not like I can get a better paying job.  I’m just trying right now to get healthy enough to be on the wait list for a new kidney.  Anyway, the counselor at the kidney center let me know that there were funds available to me to help with rent while I figure out where else I can go.    I was drowning when she put me in touch with the National Kidney Foundation of Utah and Idaho, and I felt like you’d thrown me a life-preserver.  You can’t know how much it means to me….this means I can stay where I am at least until my next doctor’s visits.  Thank you for making this possible for me to stay where I am for now.  I thank God for you.

Bless you.

Sincerely, Robert

 

From Jacob B:

Thank you for the Medical Emergency Financial Support.  Not only did it relieve the stress and anxiety I’m feeling in a deeply difficult health situation, but was able to enjoy another year with my daughter.  So very grateful for the hope and stress relief of knowing the kidney foundation is there when things get impossibly tight.

Always grateful,

Jacob B.

 

From Barbara P:

For a low income person like I am, I feel it’s criminal to keep raising the rent.  But that’s the market.  It seems no one cars to help those who can’t help themselves for the moment.  When they raised my rent I almost lost it mentally and emotionally.  The grant the NKFU&I provided really helped with my emotional stability.  It put my mind to rest knowing I have someone behind me.

God bless you all,

Barbara

Utah mother, first in the beehive state to become a two-time living organ donor.

/0 Comments/in /by

A generous and brave #Utah woman is only one of about 150 Americans to have gifted, not one, but two organs for donation!

Kate and Eva

 Photo by: Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital
Kate and Eva, whose life Kate saved through a liver transplant.
By: Laura Polacheck
Posted at 10:48 AM, May 04, 2023
SALT LAKE CITY — Donating an organ to save the life of another is a supreme act of compassion, and one Utah woman in the state has made this gift twice.

Kate, a 37-year-old mother, is the only two-time living organ donor in the state, and among only 155 people nationwide who have donated both a kidney and part of their liver to save the lives of others.

One recipient was two-year-old Eva, who received a liver transplant at Intermountain Children’s Hospital to save her life. The girl was a total stranger who now proudly shows off her scar from the procedure.

Kate also donated a kidney to a woman she met while working in the Washington, D.C., area.

Living-donor liver transplants occur when a portion of a living person’s liver is removed and surgically placed into another person. After the surgery, the donor’s liver regenerates to its regular size within about two months.

In the recipient, the transplanted liver grows to fit his or her body, and functions as a healthy liver.

Living donor liver transplants not only significantly increase the number of available organs for children waiting for a transplant, but they also reduce the waiting time for children who urgently require a liver transplant, saving their lives,” said Cecile Aguayo, Pediatric Transplant Services Director at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital.

Kate became interested in being a living organ donor in the early 2000s.

A friend who worked in the same building had a disease affecting her kidneys, and after discovering they had the same blood type, Kate offered to become her donor.

When Kate moved to Utah, she contacted Primary Children’s Hospital and offered to donate part of her liver to help a child in need.

Baby Eva, who was being treated for biliary atresia since she was just two months old, became the second recipient of Kate’s amazing generosity.

“It was nine months of waiting (for a matching liver donor),” said Eva’s mom, Alyssa Anderson.

Without intervention, her liver would have failed, and she would have died. Most kids with this disease years ago wouldn’t have even lived to see their first birthday.”

Eva’s mom said she was “kind of starstruck” meeting Kate, another mother just like her.

“I wanted to show her all the pictures and make sure she understood that she saved my baby’s life,” she added. “All of our family is so grateful to her.”

Kate says kindness “makes you day to help,” even doing something as simple as opening a door for someone.

“So imagine the opportunity to donate and save someone’s life.”

Find out more about living organ donations here: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/primary-childrens/programs-specialties/transplant/living-donation/

 

https://www.fox13now.com/