Before joining the Texas Health Huguley Hospital team, Army veteran Meg Cotton, CRNA, worked as an ICU nurse at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. It was there that a conversation with a patient opened Meg’s eyes to a greater need. The patient had given one of her kidneys to a stranger through something called altruistic or nondirected organ donation. Due to a shortage of donor kidneys, many people with kidney failure who could be helped by a transplant have to wait years to receive a deceased donor organ. Meg began to think, why not me? “There’s such a great need,” she says. “So many people go to sleep every night praying for their name to come up next. For thousands of people, that call never happens.” Fast-forward to 2023. Meg, by then out of the Army and finishing anesthesia training, was ready to give her precious gift. She asked about becoming a kidney donor at a transplant center in Fort Worth. “They match you with somebody,” she says. “It could be anybody, anywhere across the country.” Over the next few weeks, Meg had lab tests as part of the donor match process. Doctors made sure she was healthy enough to give a kidney. ‘Given with love’ Meg Cotton gave her kidney to a stranger Meg had her surgery right before Christmas in 2023. A transplant team removed her left kidney and flew it to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where a recipient received the anonymous gift—and a second chance—later that day. By sharing her story, Meg hopes to raise awareness in our community of the need for organ donation and options for being a living donor. Aside from having periodic kidney function labs, Meg says that giving a kidney hasn’t changed how she lives her life. “It was given with love,” Meg says about her kidney. She may never meet the stranger who received that amazing gift. But she thinks about them often. “I hope and pray that they are doing well and that it’s one less struggle for them in their healthcare journey,” she says. April is National Donate Life Month To discover more about organ donation, visit donatelife.net. Spring 2025 7
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