In 2002, I was a healthy and active 26-year old that had just passed the Iowa bar exam and just began my career as a lawyer in Des Moines. Soon after, I began not feeling well and was finally diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, secondary to malignant hypertension. The primary cause of the kidney failure is still unknown today.

I was told that I would need to start dialysis treatments soon or receive a kidney from a living or deceased donor. Friends and family members began going through donor screening one-by-one, and in the mean time, I had catheter tubes fused to my upper chest so I could begin dialysis treatments. After 10 months of a restricted food and liquid diet, constant fatigue, high stress, and spending 400 hours on the dialysis machine, my friend Ryan was notified he was a match.

Although his wife of 4 months, Jalynn, barely knew me, she gave her blessing for them to travel to Iowa from Colorado and do the transplant. The transplant was performed February 24, 2004, at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines. Numerous friends and family members filled the waiting room to keep Jalynn and my fiancée, Dani, company. Several hours later when the nurse announced that the transplant was a success, they were overjoyed and relieved.

Since the surgery, Ryan, Jalynn, Dani and I have all become our own family, and I’m very grateful for that. Ryan’s gracious gift of his kidney (which we all named Lil’ Ry-Ry) has immensely extended and improved my life. Thanks to his heroic act of kindness, I am able to live a full, active life, free from the machine. I’m able to work, travel, swim, eat all foods (and they actually taste good again), play sports and stay awake all day; all things I used to take for granted.