Chris Runkel Donates Kidney in 2023 to Save Brad Bywater From Renal Failure

1 articles · Updated · Church News · May 31

Sept. 26, 2023, brought Brad Bywater a kidney transplant after polycystic kidney disease pushed his kidney function below 20 and into renal failure earlier that year.
Four months of peritoneal dialysis followed while Bywater joined Mayo Clinic’s national wait list, where a kidney can take about five years to secure.
More than 60 people responded after the family posted a Facebook appeal for donor testing, but Chris Runkel — the Bywaters’ ministering brother — proved to be a compatible match.
The Arizona transplant grew into a lasting bond between the two families, with Bywater saying the donation reshaped his gratitude, faith and view of service.

How close are we to growing new kidneys and making agonizing transplant waitlists a thing of the past?

Does the success of a Facebook plea reveal a deeper failure in our national organ donation system?

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