Kelly Welch

Kelly Welch donated a kidney to her young son, Austin, in 2001. Austin contracted E. coli that turned into hemolytic Eurymic syndrome (HUS) which heavily impacts small blood vessels throughout the body causing clots that can often lead to kidney failure or other organ issues. In her son’s case, it not only got his kidneys but gave him a stroke. 

Kelly and her husband watched as their son spent a year on Peritoneal Dialysis and was in and out of the Hospital a lot. He also had to do physical, occupational and speech therapy to relearn what he lost from his stroke. It was a stressful time for their family and like many parents in such a situation, they were desperate to find a donor as quickly as they could. 

Both parents got tested for potential donation as soon as possible, Kelly says, “He was our baby so it was an easy decision for both me and dad to get tested, I was the best candidate at that time so I went through the rest of the testing. The only consideration was his brother and what impact me having surgery would have on him.” Luckily, she went on to add that her husband and their parents all showed up to help as she recovered from the operation. It was an easy choice to make.

Prior to his transplant, Austin was dependent on dialysis and constant medical supervision. This made tasks such as schooling very difficult, sometimes impossible to stay on top of. Today, Austin is healthy, has completed school, and leads an active life. “We celebrate it every year,” Kelly writes, “it made the special bond between mother and son even stronger. I now have a higher sense of confidence and purpose. Medically it hasn’t had much of a negative impact, I still do everything I did before such as hiking and it has even given us the transplant games!” 

Over twenty-four years later she is sharing this story to heartily urge people to answer the call for organ donation when/if they are capable, “Living Donation empowers donors to help others lead healthy productive lives.”