The Emmy award–winning MTV series True Life returned tonight with the emotional premiere of I Need A Transplant. In it, we met Craig and Morgan, two young adults who underwent kidney transplants. While both had only a 50 percent chance of transplant success, this roller-coaster episode ended positively for them. On the flip side, about 6,000 Americans die every year waiting to find a match.
We had the opportunity to speak with Lora Wilson, a donor with an equally inspiring story. After her husband received a kidney/pancreas transplant from a deceased donor years prior, she wanted to do more than just stand on the receiving end.
A unique component to her story is that it was wrapped with doubt and insecurity: "Like many women of my generation, I was never happy with my body. Could a perfect match come from someone as imperfect as me?" Wilson shared.
Well, she may have had a poor body image, but it was her body that saved the life of a 71-year-old stranger. And donating wound up being the catalyst for change that she couldn't find externally.
While Wilson says the surgery was the most intense pain of her life, it helped her appreciate the importance of good health. She's now training to run in the first-ever living donor competitions for the National Kidney Foundation's U.S. Transplant Games this summer, where she's also a member of the executive committee.
Craig and Morgan's story is on the opposite spectrum of Lora's, but all three played key roles in the importance of organ donations. Would you ever consider donating an organ, even to a stranger? Check out our facts, resources and ways to help out if you're interested in learning more, then take the poll and tell us if you'd consider doing it.
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