My Kidney Donation Story: Tom Coleman

In 1990, before my wife and I were married, her mother had a liver transplant. We got married in 2001, and in 2002 they asked me if I would be interested in going to the Transplant Games of America. I thought, why not—her mom is here because of a transplant. 

We were in line at Disney and there was a kid in front of us who had a lanyard saying that he was a transplant recipient—he had had a heart transplant when he was just a few months old. That blew me away because I always thought transplants were for old people.  

We have been to every Transplant Games since then, except the one year they canceled it because of COVID. It is an absolutely incredible experience. I’d always wanted to donate a kidney, but then I thought, what if my son or my wife needs a kidney and I had already donated mine? 

Fast forward several years, and my wife went into the hospital with a bleeding ulcer. They kept her for a week and ran all kinds of tests, then they told her she was in Stage 5 kidney failure and needed to start thinking about dialysis and a transplant.  

My wife has three sisters. One went through most of the testing and was a good match and in great health. However, she is a very petite woman, and while her kidney function was OK for her, the transplant would reduce her kidney function and put her at risk. The other sister was disqualified due to her age, and the third sister had the same situation as the first sister. So it was time for me to start the testing process.  

I assumed I would not be a match, but I knew I could donate to someone else to get a transplant for my wife. I knew a little about the Voucher Program through the Transplant Games, but I learned so much more through the National Kidney Registry. I didn’t realize how they paired donors and recipients to find the best matches for everyone.  

I was not a match, but everything looked good with the initial screening, and I was able to schedule all the rest of my testing for the same day. It was nowhere near as invasive as I thought it was going to be. They had to redo two tests—one scan and an EKG because I had smoked for 27 years. At the time of her surgery, I had been a nonsmoker for about 18 years.  

All the tests came out fine, and they set the surgery date: October 9, 2024. I asked them which kidney they were going to remove, not that it mattered, and they said they were going to take the left one. I play golf, and I’m not very good. I was thinking that getting that left kidney out of the way might help my backswing.  

I don’t think I’ve ever been more sure of something I wanted to do. My donation enabled my wife to stay off dialysis. It was 18 months from the time she was diagnosed to the time that she got her transplant, and it was less than nine months from my donation to her transplant.  

I have no idea who my kidney went to. I wrote a letter to my recipient because I wanted to let them know why I did it, the history with my mother-in-law, and my history with the Transplant Games. It’s been almost a year and a half and I still haven’t received anything from them, but that’s fine—they can do it in their time frame or not at all. I heard they were doing great, and that’s all I need to know.  

My post-transplant checkups have been good. Most times, I have to remind myself that I donated. Even the scars have healed tremendously. I have zero regrets about my kidney donation. I try to tell anyone who is interested about my experience.  

I didn’t have enough vacation time for the donation and recovery. I had short-term disability, so that paid 60% of my salary and Donor Shield paid the rest of it—I lost nothing. I can’t say enough good things about Donor Shield. Not having to worry about lost income could make a real difference for people considering donation. 

Right now we are raising money to go to the Transplant Games in June. This year, my wife and I both get to participate for the first time. In the past, I have done the 5K race, which is open to everybody, but I wasn’t able to win anything in the competition because I was not a donor or a transplant recipient. This will be our first year as participants rather than just supporters.

About the Author

Tom and his wife, Debbie, are about to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They live in Louisville, Kentucky. Tom is a proud father and grandfather who enjoys playing golf, hiking, RC crawling, and listening to music. After being a supporter of the Transplant Games for over 20 years, he will compete for the first time as a living donor in the 2026 games in Denver, Colorado. He is planning to compete in a 5K run, darts, cornhole, pickleball, and golf.