Greatest person: Waukee Man Gives Back After Transplant

Waukee Patch | Jody Gifford

In 2006, Ted Cochran received a kidney transplant. Five years later, he's taking his second chance at life and repaying it through his non-profit My Angel Foundation, which educates others about organ donation.Aug. 29, 2006, is the day that Ted Cochran says changed his life.

It was on that day, after years of battling the effects of a childhood illness and deteriorating kidney function, that Cochran received a new kidney. His donor? His mother, Carla Cochran, 54, an emergency room nurse.

"As a nurse, throughout the years, I knew that the day would come when Ted would need a new kidney," she said. "As a nurse, I also knew how many people were on a waiting list. I know that at that time, there were 260 people on waiting list for a kidney. I knew that as a living donor, a person can live with one kidney so I said, 'Test me.' Ted's brother was also a match, but I said, 'I'm the one. Let me go forward.'"

"We know that we’re facing an uphill battle. The number of donors are not keeping up with the number of people needing transplants." 

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