Kidney recipient meets anonymous donor who saved her life for the first time

For the first time, a kidney transplant recipient has come face to face with the anonymous donor who saved her life. Katisha Vertrees of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, recently met Margie Smith, the woman who donated one of her kidneys after seeing Katisha’s story shared on social media.

Katisha’s health struggles began in her late 20s when she was diagnosed with lupus and advanced kidney disease. Her condition worsened to the point where she required nightly dialysis treatments lasting up to eight hours. Over the past two years, her journey was documented as she and her husband, Taylor, turned to social media to raise awareness and search for a potential donor.

Their posts reached Margie Smith unexpectedly. After reading about Katisha’s battle with kidney failure and the miscarriage she suffered during pregnancy, Smith felt compelled to help. The same day she saw the post, she applied to be a donor. After a lengthy screening process, she was determined to be a perfect match.

The transplant surgery was performed by Dr. Duncan Yoder, kidney transplant surgical director at Sentara Health. He says living-donor transplants often lead to the best outcomes because the donor is typically healthy and the procedure can be carefully planned, allowing the kidney to be transplanted quickly.

For a year, Katisha did not know the identity of her donor. When the two finally met, she described the moment as gaining a sister and expressed deep gratitude for the life-changing gift.

Now healthy and off dialysis, Katisha is using her story to help others find living donors. She and her husband are also beginning a new chapter, as they prepare to adopt a baby boy due this spring.

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