Oklahoma Christian professor decides to donate kidney to stranger

After battling kidney disease for almost three years, Allison Kuc from Yukon, OK will receive a kidney Jan. 31 from Darin Martin, professor of education at Oklahoma Christian University, whom she met on Facebook less than a year ago.

According to a NewsOK article published in May 2017, doctors diagnosed Kuc with a kidney disease called nephrotic syndrome in April 2015. A year later, her kidney function was at 7 percent. She started dialysis, but ultimately needed a kidney transplant, the article said.

“Eight hours a night, she is connected to a machine that does the work of her kidneys,” NewsOK said. “For a year now, Allison has waited for a call that would change her life.”

Martin said he read the NewsOK article about Kuc and messaged her mother on Facebook to tell her he was interested in donating a kidney. Kuc was being treated at OU Medical, and Martin visited their transplant office in June. Through the summer and early fall, Martin said he went through several rounds of testing.

“We found out that we are the best match they’ve seen for non-family members,” Martin said. “It was another sign that God is involved in this. They have a whole team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and social workers that look at my final write up and tests and they vote for the final approval. That happened last month. I have healthy kidneys, so I was approved.”

After months of keeping in touch, Martin said he got the opportunity to meet Kuc and her family at the transplant center in early December.

“[They hold] a Christmas party for anyone who’s involved in transplants at all—whether pre- or post-transplant,” Martin said. “[My wife, daughter and I] went to that and I reached out to the mom again to see if they were going to the party. She didn’t know about it, but she said they’d be there and that’s the first time I actually met Allison and her mom and stepfather. Since then, we’ve still been in touch.”

According to Martin, he had not considered donating an organ before, but has no doubt he is doing the right thing. He said when he was driving to his first round of testing, he was listening to a sermon online and the preacher mentioned a member in the congregation was donating a kidney. Martin said he took this as a reassurance.

“I’ve been kind of going through a time of spiritual growth just really focusing in on trying to do what God wants me to do,” Martin said. “I guess I felt the Spirit calling, and it has felt right the whole time.”

Although Martin has been in the process of donating for about eight months, he only agreed to let Kuc’s mom post about the transplant on Facebook a month ago.

“I didn’t want to come across that this is all about me, because it’s not,” Martin said. “I want this to be a great success for her and honor God in the process, but since then, the number of people who have said they’ll be praying for us has just blown me away. That’s been amazing.”

Kuc’s and Martin’s surgeries are scheduled for Jan. 31. According to Martin, his recovery should only take three weeks. He said Kuc’s recovery will take longer, because she will have to take anti-rejection drugs.

“I should be able to go back to a normal life after the surgery,” Martin said. “People do it all the time—I have friends who have donated. I like to stay busy, so I don’t know about being at home for three weeks. I live really close to campus if I have to sneak up for an hour.”

“Hopefully it’ll work well and she’ll be able to go back to a normal kid life and not have to be on dialysis all the time,” Martin said. “She’s 13. I just hope it’s a great success for her.”

Martin will be one of many organ donors in 2018. According to LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma, 59 percent of Oklahomans agreed to donate when asked, and just one organ donor can save eight lives. Breaking previous records for the fourth consecutive year in 2017, LifeShare coordinated the donation of organs from 183 Oklahoma donors, resulting in 529 organs transplanted and 481 lives saved, NewsOK said.

“We are humbled and inspired by those individuals who registered as donors to give the gift of life, and those who made the decision to look past their own loss to help others,” LifeShare President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Orlowski said. “We…hope to continue to have an impact on those currently waiting on a lifesaving transplant. We encourage all Oklahomans to register to be organ, eye and tissue donors so more lives can be saved.”

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