I’m Steve. I donated at age 54. My wife was on dialysis for 4 years and I wasn’t a match. Then the kidney chain came into being. We were part of the first kidney chain on the West Coast through UCLA.
The kidney chain is a way to save lives quicker and actually save 2 lives. If I’m willing to give my kidney to my loved one, why wouldn’t I be willing to give it to another person’s loved one and my wife gets a kidney from someone else’s loved one? It’s paying it forward. Someone who got a kidney, his wife donated to my wife, then I donated to a man at Stanford, then his wife donated to a man in NY and on and on. The result is getting a living kidney (which is better than a cadaver kidney), getting it much faster, and saving lives.
We can live normally with one kidney. Donating the kidney hasn’t changed anything I do. I still work full time, play in a rock and roll band, do sports, and travel! We have become good friends with the couple that I donated to which means the world to me.
Hooray for kidney chains, and hooray for you, Steve! And what a cool license plate! All our best to you, your wife and recipient – everyone in the chain, really! Rock on!
Thank you, Steve, for giving my brother Allan your kidney. You’re awesome! Congrats to your wife!!