Steven Malarchick, a nurse and paramedic at San Juan Regional Medical Center, now has a new title to add to his name – organ donor. In May, Steven donated a kidney to a woman he never knew prior to his organ donation journey.
It started last fall when Steven noticed a friend of a friend’s post on Facebook. The woman, named Kesha, needed a kidney transplant and was asking friends and family to consider getting tested so she could find a match. Kesha was O+. Steven was too. He talked to their mutual friend and found out that Kesha was 35 and the mother of a 6-year-old daughter. She was a Type 1 diabetic and a recent failure with her insulin pump led to her losing kidney function. She was on dialysis and needed a new kidney.
Steven did his research and found out the risks associated with a kidney donation were pretty low. So, he decided to go through testing to see if he was a match. During this time, he also reached out to Kesha and got to know her better. After multiple rounds of testing over several months, Steven found out he was a perfect match and approved for the transplant.
“I’ve always wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, which is why I got into medicine,” Steven said. “This was a way to make a huge difference in someone’s life.”
Four days after graduating with his doctor of nursing practice degree from Colorado Mesa University, Steven, his wife and daughter flew to San Antonio for surgery at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital. He was right next to Kesha in pre-op, and their surgical suites were adjacent as his left kidney “Lefty” was taken out and transplanted to Kesha. It began working immediately. The two were able to keep in contact while recovering in the hospital and they met up again a week later wearing appropriate shirts: “Kidney Buddies for Life.”
Kesha posted the photo to her Facebook page, saying “This man saved my life; this is the man that asked for nothing in return. Kidney buddies for life.”
Steven spent four weeks recovering from the surgery. He said the pain was minimal; mostly he just got tired easily. He now shares a bond with a woman who was once a stranger and now is part of his family. It’s something he encourages more people to look into as more than 100,000 people wait for a lifesaving transplant.
“I would like to encourage healthy people to consider donation, or at least find out more information about it,” Steven said. “Make sure that you are listed as an organ donor on your driver’s license.”
To learn more about organ donation, visit https://www.donatelife.net/.