My name is Christie, age 43, and I am from Tucson, AZ. I donated my kidney March 3, 2015 (when I was age 36), to a woman named Mesook from Korea. What is remarkable to me, and what I remember of all of that so clearly, is the happiness, joy and peace that day. There was zero fear or hesitancy for me, and from the moment that our story begun, it was that way. One of God’s greatest gifts to me in my life was His permitting me the Blessing of being a living kidney donor and His Gift of continued life to my dear Mesook. Our story is one of tremendous faith and the Power of His Living Grace.
I will try to make a very long story short. At this time, I had been attending daily Mass (seven days a week), and I could not go to the typical parish I was going to for daily Mass (St. Mark) so in order to attend, I went to another that had a later Mass (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton). I remember Mass that day being extraordinarily powerful and moving and how Jesus had seemed to make me at one with His Soul. As I was leaving the Adoration Chapel, I felt the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to get the bulletin. I ignored this inspiration and continued to walk out the doors. I continued to feel the tug of His Holy Spirit, and made it all the way to my car, still intent on leaving as I did not attend that parish regularly so there was no need for me to have the bulletin. God’s Operative Grace did not permit me to leave, and the inspiration gripped me so strongly, that I went back inside to get the bulletin. I will never forget that morning when I returned home. I remember the exact spot I sat at outside in front of my house, near where my Mother Mary angel statue is. I looked up to the Heavens and said to God, “Okay God, what is it that You wanted me to see in here?” I opened the bulletin and saw the tiny ad of a parishioner in need of a transplant. Instantly, I knew.
I remember placing that call, and I did not know the first time I spoke with her, or even initially when we met, that it was Mesook of whom I had that initial contact with (I had figured it was someone facilitating on her behalf), and I was asking if the person was still in need of a transplant. That ad had been in the bulletin for several months, without a single call. She had several individuals that had been tested and excluded as a donor, and was end stage. I knew in the moment I opened the bulletin, there was no doubt in my mind, but in prudence I had said I am interested and willing, but let me pray, discern, and talk with my Father (priest) and family first. My family, though hesitant, supported me. My dad recalls me telling him, “If God doesn’t want me to do it, then I won’t be a match.” To me, it was as simple as that, but yet, in my heart, again, I already knew and there was zero fear, for so strongly was it placed in my soul it was His Will for me. I remember when I called her to tell her, yes, I will do it (that would mean testing to see if I was a match), and at that very moment I had called, she had been in front of Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament in that very same chapel I had been in, and she had been praying to Mother Mary, when my call to her came.
What is far more remarkable than my willingness to be a kidney donor (God asked it of me, it was that simple), is the strength of her incredible faith. AFTER I had said that I would do it, but BEFORE I went through the testing she got a phone call from the Mayo clinic, they had a kidney for her (she was next on the list, and a man who had died in a motorcycle accident – God bless his soul and his family for being willing to donate his organs – was a perfect match for her). Mesook turned down a GUARANTEED kidney and GUARANTEED shot at life because so strongly in her heart did she believe that God wanted it to be me. As far she knew, I could have been excluded just as everyone else was. (That kidney she turned down, then went to the next person on the list, thus, another person granted the gift of continued life.) When it did come time for me to go through the testing, which is quite extensive, not only was I a match, but the doctor said that I was the PERFECT match, that I could not have been a more perfect match than what I was.
Fast forward to the time for our surgery, we had many graces, prayers from all over the world going for us, from all faith backgrounds – I still remember how touching, the photograph of Mesook’s family in Korea they took for me, all making hearts with their hands. When we had our surgery, we defied medicine and science, and broke the records at the Mayo Clinic, the moment my kidney was placed in her body, it began functioning immediately. Never for a single solitary second will I ever have even a scintilla of regret, that moment was one of God’s Greatest Gifts to me, and I will be eternally and forevermore grateful that her and I, are united so.
An incredible testimonial of faith.