Episode 167: Living Kidney Donation: Hayley’s Journey from Childhood Dream to Kidney Donor

What does it really mean to become a living kidney donor — and what would inspire someone to donate a kidney to a complete stranger?

In this episode of Diary of a Kidney Warrior Podcast, Dee Moore speaks with Hayley about her remarkable living kidney donation journey, which began with a dream she first had at just eight years old.

Years later, Hayley turned that childhood ambition into reality, becoming an altruistic living kidney donor and giving a stranger the gift of a kidney transplant.

Hayley takes us through the living kidney donor process from beginning to end: finding a potential recipient, undergoing donor assessment and matching, initially being turned down by one transplant centre, navigating the medical evaluation process, preparing for surgery and recovering after donating a kidney.

Remarkably, Hayley’s journey from contacting the organisation that helped facilitate her donation to undergoing surgery took approximately eight weeks.

In this conversation, Dee and Hayley discuss:

• Why Hayley wanted to become a kidney donor from the age of eight • What motivated her to donate a kidney to someone she had never met • Direct kidney donation and paired kidney exchange • Being initially rejected as a potential donor and why she continued • The medical assessment and kidney donor matching process • Meeting her kidney recipient before transplant surgery • What living kidney donor surgery and recovery were like for her • Walking six miles just three days after donating her kidney • Returning to exercise, weightlifting and martial arts after donation • What life with one kidney looks like for Hayley today • The emotional impact and personal meaning of living kidney donation • The importance of support before and after donor surgery • Why more people need to know that living kidney donation is possible • How Hayley turned her experience into work supporting other potential kidney donors • Her advice for anyone considering becoming a living kidney donor • Her message of hope for people waiting for a kidney transplant

Hayley also addresses a question many people may wonder about living organ donation: what does the donor get from giving a kidney?

For Hayley, the answer goes far beyond the physical act of donation. She describes the profound impact of knowing that her decision helped another person, their family and potentially even the next person waiting for a kidney transplant.

Today, Hayley continues to raise awareness of living kidney donation and supports others considering taking the same journey.

Whether you are living with kidney disease, waiting for a kidney transplant, considering living kidney donation, supporting someone through transplantation, or simply want to understand why someone would choose to donate a kidney to a stranger, this conversation offers an insightful first-hand perspective.

🎥 WATCH THE AUDIO + VISUAL VERSION

The audio and visual version of this conversation is available on the Diary of a Kidney Warrior Podcast YouTube channel.

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If this episode has helped you, please follow or subscribe to Diary of a Kidney Warrior Podcast, leave a review and share this episode with someone who may benefit from hearing Hayley’s story.

Sharing these conversations helps raise awareness of kidney disease, kidney transplantation and living kidney donation — and could help this information reach someone who needs it.

Until next time, take care and choose to live.

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