Brenda Tate
Pittsburgh, PA
Living Kidney Donor

The love between Brenda and her brother, Larry, has always been there, and when Larry was diagnosed with kidney disease and had to go on dialysis while waiting for a kidney transplant, big sister came to the rescue. At the age of 68, Brenda went through the donation process to learn that she wasn’t a match for her brother; however, that did not stop her.

Brenda began a “chain organ donation” where she matched with a man who needed a kidney in Erie. That man’s wife, who was not a match for her husband, gave her kidney to someone else who was a match. As the chain went on, doctors found a woman who was a match for Larry. All told, the chain included eight donors.

“I want [people] to know that you have an opportunity to give life,” Brenda says to those who may want to become organ donors. “You see your loved one and say, ‘How can I help?’ You have an opportunity to save your loved one’s life.”