Amy Walker, center, a living kidney donor, and Kristin Calkins, right, director of trauma services at The University of Toledo Medical Center, raised the Donate Life flag during a ceremony recognizing National Donate Life Month on Wednesday, April 6, at UTMC.
In 2017, Walker donated a kidney to her father, Dave Hackenberg.
“When I found out he was getting near the end and they had told him he was either going to go on dialysis or be put on the transplant list, I knew that I had to get tested and see if I could do something for him,” Walker said.
Walker was a perfect match for Hackenberg. The pair had their surgeries Nov. 16, 2017, in side-by-side surgical suites at UTMC.
“She not only extended my life, but she extended it in the way that is how you want to live it,” Hackenberg said.
Watch their story here:
