SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio doctor is climbing to new heights to raise money and awareness for organ donation.
Last month, KSAT introduced you to Kelley Hitchman, the director of the University Health Transplant Institute Lab. She matches compatible organ donors with recipients.
To raise awareness about the safety and importance of living organ donation, she’s hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro, which is 20,000 feet high.
“It’s myself and 14 other living kidney donors and one transplant surgeon. We have been advocating all year long and will advocate for years to come,” Hitchman said.
Before this meaningful adventure began, KSAT talked to Hitchman about her story.
“For years, I’ve seen our patients waiting and struggling,” she said.
So, in 2021, she donated her kidney to a stranger.
Now, she wants people to see they don’t need to be afraid to donate.
“We’re going out there to literally shout from one of the highest summits in the world that living donors are completely normal people that can do absolutely extraordinary things,” Hitchman said.
One of those extraordinary people is Emily Polet-Monterosso, a board member of the Kidney Donor Athletes, the organization Dr. Hitchman is hiking with.
Polet-Monterosso also donated a kidney to a stranger whose plea she saw on the back of his car.
“I donated to him in 2019. He is doing very well now. He was able to get married to his then-fiancé and is able to be present for his kids,” Polet-Monterosso said.
In 2022, she was in the first kidney donor athlete group to hike Kilimanjaro.
“I remember when I arrived in Tanzania for my trek, meeting 22 people who had also donated a kidney. I had never met a single kidney donor before. I think Dr. Hitchman is having a very special experience right now,” Polet-Monterosso said.
Hitchman will reach the summit this Thursday, March 14, which is World Kidney Day.
Her experience gives the 90,000 Americans waiting for a kidney the highest of hopes.
To learn more about kidney donation, call the University Health Transplant Institute at 210- 567-5777 or visit its website.
If you’re ready to become a living donor, visit this website.