A close friend of ours asked my husband to support him in his attempt to altruistically donate his spare kidney to a man in America dying from stage-4 kidney disease while also looking after his wife suffering from advanced Alzheimer's. My husband captured the process on camera and I produced the film. What followed was really amazing. We hope this can help spread awareness about this gift of life process, dispel some of the myths and fears around it, and inspire others to step forward to donate. The full documentary will be out soon.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/i_9zWQZXrUs

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-15587211/Dying-father-38-denied-liver-transplant-tumour-0-4mm-big.html

Father-of-one, 38, recently diagnosed with cancer is denied liver transplant 'because his tumour is 4mm too big'
By EMMA GRITT

...
Ms Kay has spoken of her 'utter fear' at the prospect of losing her husband, and is feeling the pressure or finding - and funding - a living liver donor after James' medical team told the couple that time was not on their side. 
She said: 'The cancer is so aggressive and James does not have time to wait. Unless we can get it done abroad, he won't survive.'
...

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2845580

The Evolution of Deceased Organ Donation in the US
Aleah L. Brubaker, MD, PhD1; Jesse D. Schold, PhD, MStat, MEd2,3;  Gabriel T. Schnickel, MD, MPH1
JAMA
Published Online: February 26, 2026
doi: 10.1001/jama.2026.0621

Modern transplantation began in 1954 when Joseph Murray, MD, successfully transplanted a kidney from one identical twin brother to another. Since then, the US transplant system has evolved through a public-private partnership to address trust, ensure equity, and expand access. In 1968, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act created a state-level legal basis for organ donation, establishing an individual's right to make an anatomic gift after death. Rapid adoption of this act led to emergence of regional organ procurement organizations (OPOs), formed as extensions of transplant centers or hospital networks, and ad hoc operating practices shaped by local hospital relationships and various legal interpretations.
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https://www.hrsa.gov/optn/about/volunteer

  I'm a volunteer, initially serving as an appointed member of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Public Solicitation of Organ Donors 20 years ago, then elected to two terms on the UNOS/OPTN board of directors, now again elected to serve on the OPTN board. In addition I've served on the Kidney, Executive, Patient Affairs, Living Donor, and Finance Committees. Policy development and governance of the US transplant system depends of volunteers of all kinds, including we living donors and our recipients, families, and friends. I urge you to consider offering to serve in this way to improve policy and practice for everyone involved in and patients benefiting from transplantation. It's a challenging time of significant change and talented, principled people are very much needed. Please say yes.

https://www.hrsa.gov/optn/about/volunteer

https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/infectious-diseases/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-organ-donation

What doctors wish patients knew about organ donation
One organ donor can save up to eight lives. Veronica Loy, DO, a transplant hepatologist at Rush University System for Health, discusses organ donation.
By
Sara Berg, MS
News Editor


Each year, thousands of people across the U.S. wait for a call that could save their lives. For many, an organ transplant offers the only path forward, yet the need continues to far outpace the number of available donors. This gap not only reflects a growing medical challenge but also underscores persistent misconceptions about who can donate and how the process works. 
Currently, more than 100, 000 people in the U.S. are waiting for organ transplants. Of those, more than 60,000 are active waiting list candidates. Meanwhile, the number of transplants performed in the U.S. has increased annually with more than 48,000 organ transplants performed in the U.S. in 2024. In fact, there were more than 7,000 living donor transplants and more than 17,000 decreased donors in 2021. But even with the continued increase in deceased donations, there is still an urgent need for organ donors. One organ donor can save up to eight lives, according to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

....

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/opinion/donate-your-kidney.html

OPINION
GERMAN LOPEZ
Want to Make a Difference? Donate Your Kidney.

When I told my mom I wanted to donate one of my kidneys to a stranger, her first response was, "That's a wonderful thing you want to do." Then she suggested that I had perhaps lost my mind and could get myself killed.
...


https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/opinion/kidney-donation.html

OPINION
LETTERS
The Many Gifts of Kidney Donation

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The writer is the president of the American Society of Nephrology...
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multiple donors and others...
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https://www.qchron.com/editions/south/why-i-decided-to-be-a-living-organ-donor/article_49110adc-0e83-5eb7-9656-40d953fa1fcb.html

ESSAY
Why I decided to be a living organ donor

• by Eric Ulrich

A few days ago, I walked into Northwell Hospital and prepared myself for surgery to donate a little more than half of my liver to an old friend from Ozone Park. Antonio Blandino has nonalcoholic cirrhosis and, like so many others with this disease, needed a healthy organ donor to live. After months of testing and screening dozens of other would-be donor candidates, it was determined that I was the perfect match.
This is a major surgery, with real risks, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit concerned. This decision came from a simple truth that feels impossible to ignore: If I can help save a life, how could I not try?
...

https://www.sunydutchess.edu/about/facts/news/articles/living-donor-learning-symposium.html

Inspiring Action Through Story: DCC Raises Awareness of Living Donation
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — FEB. 2, 2026 — Nothing could have prepared Joia Ponticello for the moment that she learned she would need a kidney transplant.
As a lifelong type 1 diabetic, Ponticello had been through her share of health scares and hospital stays. But a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease was more terrifying than anything she had ever faced.
"It is a moment that steals your breath," Ponticello recalled. "A moment that forces you to imagine futures you never wanted to imagine. A moment that makes you look at your child differently, your spouse differently, your own reflection differently."
Ponticello shared her story during the Living Donor Learning Symposium and Education Fair at Dutchess Community College (DCC) on Feb. 2, an event dedicated to bringing awareness to the gift of living organ donation. The College welcomed representatives from Weill Cornell Medicine, Westchester Medical Center Health to share information on and demystify the process of organ donation and transplantation.
"At DCC, our mission is to provide education that changes lives and this program does exactly that," said DCC Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Dr. Susan Rogers. "By creating space for learning, conversation and one-on-one connection about the power and impact of living donation, we hope to raise awareness, inspire action and help move us closer to life-saving solutions for the thousands of individuals waiting for a transplant."
DCC Student Trustee Ryan Shook is a living donor who shared his story during the event. At 27 years old, Shook was notified that he was a match for a man in need of a bone marrow transplant – eight years after he submitted a sample during a blood drive.
A patient needed help – a man in England had myelodysplastic syndrome – a disease that affects the bone marrow's ability to create mature blood cells. If left untreated, it can develop into leukemia.
Shook said as a healthy 22-year-old man, he "had no reason to say no" to donating bone marrow, even in spite his fear of needles.
"Growing up, hearing the words injection and IVs used to make my stomach turn. But I kept going," Shook shared during the event. "Because when you know someone's life is tied to your choice, your fear takes a backseat. It stops being about the needle, it starts being about the person."
DCC Board of Trustees Chair and Network Director for WMC's Clinical Care Management Dr. Angela Flesland shared her experience in supporting organ donation recipients during her time working as a nurse. She advocated for increased participation in the organ donor program and for those who elect to become donors to share their wishes with their families.
"Becoming an organ donor is one of the most powerful legacies that you can leave," she said. "It says 'my life matters, and so does yours.' And trust me, one day there will be someone out there praying for the chance that you could give them."
Flesland introduced keynote speaker and DCC alum, Dr. Muath Bishawi. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, Bishawi's expertise is in procedures involving the heart and lungs, and has overseen the transplantation of these organs from deceased donors. He said there is one common thread between all recipients who do well after receiving an organ.
"When they come back to see me, they all have the same question: 'Doc, how do I thank the person who gave me this? How do I give back with this gift?' And my answer is always the same: 'the first thing you can do is just take care of that organ,'" he said, going on to list the different ways they should take care of themselves.
"Taking care of the organ is, in a way, paying gratitude for the person who gave you this incredible gift," Bishawi continued. "Another one is giving back around you in your community. Because at the end of the day, what it is to be human is to give — at even the worst times — but also to give back and to share and strengthen the community around us."
To learn more about becoming a living kidney donor, visit the National Kidney Foundation. To learn more about Ponticello, visit her donor microsite