GENTLE STRENGTH:
Images of Generosity, Hope, and New Life through Transplant
Travel with us through this heart-warming photo series and learn of the people whose lives have been forever changed through organ donation. Organ recipients, organ donors, and donor families show their strength and love through these compelling images.
"From the moment I was told I needed a kidney, to the moment I received the kidney, it was my Faith and trust in God that got me through. I like to make my MESS my message, and my TEST my testimony."
~Deb Wright, Kidney Recipient
"We are grateful, thankful, and blessed beyond measure. We pray that the spirit of appreciation for the opportunity Kevin has to live his best life eases the loss the donor family experiences. We’ve been able to spend quality time with our children and granddaughter and are joyfully awaiting the arrival of granddaughter #2 in the spring!"."
~Kevin Prue, Liver Recipient, with wife, Amy
Dennis visits Hartford Hospital often, counseling adults preparing for and recovering from organ transplants. He is also the go-to person many in the community call to counsel, support, and encourage their loved ones through their own heart failure diagnosis and transplant journey.
~Dennis Thomas, Heart Recipient
Due to the effects of Covid-19, I needed a double lung and liver transplant in 2022. I was in the hospital for just short of a year. Although many activities that I previously enjoyed are restricted, I accept these restrictions along with the medications and frequent doctor visits that allow me to be here, living life. Thanks to medical advancements, and of course, my selfless donor, I can create new memories with my wife and watch my three young children grow up.
~Mike, Double Lung and Liver Recipient, pictured with his wife, Megan, and their children
I love to talk about my experience! I saw that Robert was so young and had so much life to live, and I wanted him to be able to fulfill his lifetime of dreams. I am proud of myself and make it my mission to bring awareness about living donation to everyone I meet.
~ Al (left), Living Kidney Donor, pictured with his Kidney Recipient, Robert (right)
Receiving a liver from my best friend has changed my life for the better in all the ways possible. I have never felt so physically and mentally strong as I do now. Though it has been five years since the transplant, I am still living in a sense of awe each and every day.
~Nicole (left), Liver Recipient, pictured with her donor and best friend Christina (right)
I believe in practicing what I preach. I’ve been inspired by every living donor I’ve had the honor of working with, and one of my proudest accomplishments has been becoming one myself.
~Kari, Living Kidney Donor, Living Donor Transplant Coordinator at Hartford Hospital
Julia knew she wanted to be an organ donor when she got her driver's license. Eight days before her 18th birthday, she was in a car accident, and although the doctors did everything they could to save her, she could not recover. Because of her small act of kindness of checking the box at the DMV, she saved five lives and gave the gift of sight back to a man in Korea. Julia lives on in others, and her legacy remains with us.
~The Bruno Family, Donor Family, pictured left to right, Jacob, Kathy, and Todd, holding a photo of Julia
Raul, Liver Recipient
Raul was born in 2018 with a urea cycle disorder, a rare disease caused by a faulty enzyme, and needed a liver transplant when he was three years old. After a year on the transplant list, the prayers of the Torres family were answered by a living donor. Lawrence, a Vermont native who had already donated a kidney to a stranger one year prior, decided to give anonymously again. Raul is now in kindergarten, and Marie took a seat on the Board of Directors of Donate Life Connecticut to give back to the transplant community that saved her little boy.
~Raul, Kidney Recipient, pictured with his mom, Marie, dad, Omar, and sisters Luna and Mia
I’m simply in awe of the human body. My body quickly adapted to life with one kidney and regenerated 70% of my liver in weeks. If I didn’t see the relatively minor scars as a reminder, I’d never know either of these miracles happened. I feel great and would do it all over again without question. One of the greatest joys of my life was meeting my liver recipient, Angella, post-donation. She spreads love and cares for others like it’s her mission, and I’m thankful to have had a hand in enabling this amazing woman to continue making such a significant impact on this earth!
~Judi, Living Kidney, and Living Liver Donor
Andrew was a college student focused on health and fitness. "I did everything right. I ate healthy, didn't party like the rest of my college friends, and trained hard in the gym." Two bouts of strep throat in one semester would affect his heart and change everything. He was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and required a heart transplant. His donor, Donald, was killed in a motorcycle accident and had chosen to be a donor. Andrew now works for the people who helped save his life by working as a multicultural outreach coordinator for New England Donor Services.
~Andrew, Heart Recipient
I had always been a registered organ donor on my license, but it is not guaranteed that I would be able to be a donor for someone. By becoming a living donor, I knew I could give to someone else. I thought if I were the one waiting, I would hope someone would step up for me.
~Renee, Tissue Recipient and Living Kidney Donor
My mom received her first kidney from an altruistic donor. They met once when they were interviewed about the experience by the Hartford Courant. Fifteen years later my mom needed a second kidney, and I moved back to Connecticut from Georgia to be her donor. I donated and let life take over the rest. My mom died just 363 days later. Though it was devastating, I did the very best I could do for the woman who brought me into this life and never regretted my decision.
~Pamela, Living Kidney Donor
Going through this process takes a village, and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. This experience has more deeply connected me to my community and to the vastness and beauty of each living being. It has changed my life. I am not the same person I was before receiving my kidney, which I lovingly named Theresa.
~Megan, Kidney Recipient, pictured with many members of her “village.”
Because of my donor, I was given a second chance at life. I honor that gift by living every day to the fullest. I am truly blessed.
~Martial, Heart Recipient
I was content to stay on the LVAD machine and let it do the work for my heart, but after going to a weekly heart transplant breakfast club that was started by a couple of other transplant recipients, I was encouraged to begin the process of getting on the list. My greatest motivation for doing well through the process was my grandsons. I received the gift of life in July of 2020 and now I get to enjoy life with my wonderful grandsons and my wife of 19 years - my greatest supporter, Heidi.
~Lou, Heart Recipient, pictured with his wife, Heidi
I am thankful for the 24 years of new life I was given through my first kidney transplant. My sister was my donor. I am currently waiting for another kidney, and my daily life is ruled by dialysis, medication, and hospital stays. I am so lucky to have tremendous emotional support from my wife, Casey.
~Kevin, Kidney Recipient, currently waiting for a second kidney, pictured with his wife, Casey
I was sick for 14 years, and after writing a poem that was shared on social media, I received a kidney from a donor in 2017. While my kids once had a “sick mom,” I am now able to watch them grow into adulthood and create new memories. I encourage others to keep those small, positive daily memories in their minds, and they will move throughout their day with good visions.
~Lisa, Liver Recipient
I was content to stay on the LVAD machine and let it do the work for my heart, but after going to a weekly heart transplant breakfast club that was started by a couple of other transplant recipients, I was encouraged to begin the process of getting on the list. My greatest motivation for doing well through the process was my grandsons. I received the gift of life in July of 2020 and now I get to enjoy life with my wonderful grandsons and my wife of 19 years - my greatest supporter, Heidi.
~Lou, Heart Recipient, pictured with his wife, Heidi
My sister Jocelyn was born on National Donor Day, February 14, 1984. She passed from heart failure at just six months. I was born one year later, and my little sister Alyssa was born two years after me in 1987. She, too, was on the heart transplant list but never received a heart in time. I have had two heart transplants but I never feared them because I always felt my sisters with me, protecting me and cheering me on.
~Kayla, Heart Recipient
After I lost my father to suicide, I found healing in providing another woman more time with her loved ones by donating my kidney. I see life differently and remind people that there are many ways to be kind. No matter what way you choose, choose kindness.
~Julie, Living Kidney Donor
Jerry is a heart recipient who does all he can to give back to his community. He runs a food pantry out of his church, St Paul's Church in Wethersfield. He works tirelessly to ensure that he has enough food and space for everyone who come through each week. He also applies for grants to ensure that the people in his community are well-fed and well-loved.
~Jerry, Heart Recipient
After seeing a play about the experience of organ donation, I was deeply inspired and made the decision to be a donor. I felt purpose-driven and focused. After surgery, I cried a deep cry, not of sadness, but of love. I recovered very quickly and felt awestruck and humbled by the entire experience.
~John, Living Kidney Donor
I am from Guyana and was encouraged to move to the States to begin dialysis when I was 18. We did not have dialysis in Guyana, and doctors told me I would not survive without it. I was on dialysis for 7 years and on the kidney transplant waitlist for 6. It was midnight on a rainy evening when I got the call. I was so overjoyed; I went out and danced in the rain! This gift of life has allowed me to feel the best I have ever felt in my whole life and has allowed me to start a family with my husband, my biggest supporter.
~ Ghaneshwari, Kidney Recipient, pictured with her husband and son
Polycystic Kidney Disease runs in my family. My mother, aunt, sister, and cousins all have it. I lost my mom to complications in 2007. I am so grateful for the selflessness of my mother-in-law, my donor. She has given me my life back and allowed me to be there for my wife and daughter.
~John, Kidney Recipient, pictured with his mother-in-law and Living Kidney Donor, Cheryl
My life has been put on hold, and I have had to move back home with my parents and stop working as a nurse. I have been blessed to have my story widely circulated, and I have gotten over 420 calls to the transplant center on my behalf. I am deeply grateful. I hope that some good comes from this, and at least one person can receive their match because of my story, even if it is not me or before me.
~Erika, Awaiting a Liver Transplant
I bought this suit for a big family wedding. When the wedding date came, I was in bad shape. I thought this suit would soon be what I would be buried in. I received a liver in April of 2023, and this same suit became my CELEBRATION SUIT! I wore it with a red bow tie on National Donor Day at the Donate Life screening of Ordinary Angels. I am truly in awe each day and am brimming with gratitude. Every day is a good day.
~Don, Liver Recipient
I was content to stay on the LVAD machine and let it do the work for my heart, but after going to a weekly heart transplant breakfast club that was started by a couple of other transplant recipients, I was encouraged to begin the process of getting on the list. My greatest motivation for doing well through the process was my grandsons. I received the gift of life in July of 2020 and now I get to enjoy life with my wonderful grandsons and my wife of 19 years - my greatest supporter, Heidi.
~Lou, Heart Recipient, pictured with his wife, Heidi
I was content to stay on the LVAD machine and let it do the work for my heart, but after going to a weekly heart transplant breakfast club that was started by a couple of other transplant recipients, I was encouraged to begin the process of getting on the list. My greatest motivation for doing well through the process was my grandsons. I received the gift of life in July of 2020 and now I get to enjoy life with my wonderful grandsons and my wife of 19 years - my greatest supporter, Heidi.
~Lou, Heart Recipient, pictured with his wife, Heidi
My son, my only child, Jerrell, was wise beyond his years and touched so many people in his 16 short years of life. He was a gift to me from God and, in turn, gave the gift of life back to several people through organ donation.
~Carolyn, Donor Mom
I was brought into this world by a teacher, my mother Pattie, and my life was restored by a teacher, my donor, Heidi. I hold a deep reverence for teachers. As God continues to breathe life into my body, I will continue to share Heidi’s story because she is part of my testimony.
~Charles, Heart Recipient
I experienced total organ failure while pregnant in 2019. I received a new kidney in 2023. I am so grateful for this second chance at life and appreciate life even more now.
~Chelsea, Kidney Recipient, pictured with her mother and daughter
I had a dream about having a baby boy. It was so clear. My husband and I started the IVF process shortly after. Born with Polycystic Kidney disease, I went into preeclampsia and kidney failure while pregnant with my son. By the gift of a living donor and all the champions who helped along my journey, I get to make up for lost time and be a healthy mom to both my son and daughter.
~Debbie, Kidney Recipient, pictured with her husband