SALT LAKE CITY — A majority of people have two kidneys, but life is certainly possible with just one. Every year, thousands choose to give one of their healthy kidneys so that another human being can have a shot at a healthy life.
Eric Orwin, 26, was on a list waiting for such a kidney. “I had a birth defect when I was born, so my kidneys would never fully functioning,” Orwin said. “I started having problems when I was 21 and got told I couldn’t work anymore because that all the toxins in my body.”
He’d been receiving dialysis treatments for three years. “You go to sit in a chair for four hours, three times a week,” he explained.
Orwin explained that these treatments took a severe physical and emotional toll on him. “I started getting depressed, and my wife decided she was going to help out,” he said.
Eric’s wife, Mayra, put up flyers in her community and posted online desperately seeking a kidney donor for her husband.
Finding the Donor
31-year-old Amber Taylor just happened to see one of Mayra’s posts on her neighborhood’s Facebook page. What inspired Amber to donate a kidney? Her boss, Laurie Meachem, recently received a kidney from her sister.
“It was amazing to me that she was willing to change somebody’s life that she hadn’t even met,” Meacham said. “I couldn’t even think about that without crying.”
Eric Orwin could hardly believe the news. “When I found out that she was actually willing to donate, I was so happy. It changed my whole mood. I was super excited knowing that I was finally getting a second chance at life.”
Eric Orwin praised Taylor for donating her kidney even though she was receiving nothing in return.
Despite being a married mother of two, Taylor believed it was worth the stress and time away from her family. “It could change someone else’s life permanently and forever… It’s just the right thing to do,” she said.
Taylor couldn’t be happier with her decision to become a living organ donor. “One of the greatest experiences of my life outside of becoming a mother,” she said.
Eric Orwin can now dream of a life he didn’t think he would live to see. He’s “wanting kids, wanting a house, wanting everything — the dream. So that’s what I’m going to work towards once I get better.”
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