More than 90,000 people in the USA are currently waiting for a kidney. Every day, twelve of them die while waiting for a donor. That statistic hit hard for Davidson resident, Jeffrey Boyd, last August when he saw a billboard on southbound 77 by exit 31, a young man’s face on it pleading for a kidney.
He had driven by that billboard many times without noticing, but on that day the plea called him to immediate action. Hours earlier, he had received news that his close friend, Kara Brown of Cornelius, had finally received justice for the death of her young son when the murderer received a guilty verdict on all counts.
Jeff was ecstatic by the trial’s outcome and as he passed the billboard on his drive home from work, his brain clicked…in honor of Kara’s son and the life that was cut short, he could help extend another life by donating a kidney.
In 2025, there were about 27,000 kidney transplants in the USA, of which only 6,500 came from living donors. Kidneys from deceased donors generally last 8-15 years, whereas those from living donors last 15-25 years.
Over the course of a few weeks, Jeff underwent various tests and was disappointed to learn that he was not an ideal match for the young man on the billboard. In kidney donation, it is not just blood type that matters but also specific markers and antibodies that determine the overall likelihood of the donor’s kidney succeeding in the recipient. Other than the blood match, there are very few parameters to qualify to donate: no diabetes or high blood pressure, no active cancer or kidney disease, BMI under 35, and non-smoker.
Jeff was disappointed but undeterred, and requested that the hospital find another recipient who would be a solid match. Altruistic donors, a name given to those who give an organ to strangers, are quite rare and account for only 300-400 of all 6,500 transplanted kidneys. When the kidney center at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston learned that Jeff would be an altruistic donor, they set to work identifying the perfect match in their system.
The week of Christmas, the transplant team had the pleasure of telling a waiting recipient, a Charlotte resident and widower raising his young daughter, that a perfect match had been found. Industry protocol requires that the donor and recipient know nothing of one another until after the transplant, but both parties knew they would agree to meet as soon as they were able.
On January 29th, Jeff and his recipient, Damon, were prepped for the operating room(s) where back-to-back five-hour surgeries led to a successful transplant. One day later the two men met in an emotional encounter that included family members and hospital staff, and allowed Kara to share the story of her son’s death and how it in turn led to Jeff’s desire to help extend a life in his honor.
Because of the rarity of altruistic donations, the experience left both men committed to living donor advocacy and shedding light on the donation process. If you are considering kidney donation, please reach out to:
[email protected] 336-713-5685
