Heidi Staddon

Heidi Staddon’s interest in organ donation ended up saving two lives: her own and that of the patient who received her donated kidney.

When Heidi learned that a friend from high school needed a liver transplant, she put her name forward as a potential donor. During the screening process, doctors discovered an aneurism near one of Heidi’s kidneys. They advised surgical repair at some point and disqualified her from donating.

A year later, an acquaintance needed a kidney and Heidi again offered to donate. The screening process found she was a good match for a different patient and doctors also repaired her aneurism during transplant surgery. The surgery succeeded and Heidi — an active mother of four — and the recipient both recovered fully.

“I'm not a doctor, I'm not a nurse, I'm none of those things,” says Heidi. “But I have something that can help somebody else. If I can help, yeah, I'm going to do it.