Living donor climbs Mount Kilimanjaro on World Kidney Day

Mayo Clinic living donor Mike Peshut is one of 22 kidney donors who will climb Mount Kilimanjaro with a group called Kidney Donor Athletes. The goal of the One Kidney Climb is to reach the summit on World Kidney Day, which is Thursday, March 10. 

Peshut donated a kidney on behalf of his wife, Annie, in February 2019. Peshut tried to be a direct donor, but he was not a match for his wife. Through paired-organ donation, he became part of a six-kidney donation chain, allowing Annie to receive a kidney. 

In paired donation, two or more organ-recipient pairs trade donors so that each recipient gets an organ that is compatible with his or her blood type. 

Peshut recently met his recipient, who credits him with giving her more time with her family, including her 13 grandchildren.

More than 90,000 people in the U.S. await a lifesaving kidney transplant. An estimated 20 people die every day because a needed is not donated in time.

Now Peshut is focused on sharing his story and encouraging others to become organ donors. The Mount Kilimanjaro climb is a public way to show that living organ donation doesn't limit the donor.

"Don't be afraid. Don't sit on the sidelines," says Mike. "If you're healthy, you can donate a kidney to help save someone else's life. It's really, really rewarding." 

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Peshut join host Dr. Halena Gazelka, a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist, to share his message about organ donation.

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