By the numbers · 5 min read

Kidney donation by the numbers.

The real statistics behind why John needs you. And why one healthy person stepping forward can save lives well beyond the patient they came to help.

The waiting list, today

The waiting list is the bluntest statistic in kidney medicine. There are more people who need kidneys than there are kidneys available. Every year that gap gets wider. People die in line.

Living donation is the only path that gets shorter, not longer.

Why living donation matters

A kidney from a living donor isn't just available faster. It works better, lasts longer, and gives the recipient a much higher quality of life than a deceased-donor kidney. The reason is simple: a living donor's kidney has never been without blood flow, never sat in cold storage, never been transported for hours. It goes directly from one healthy body to another.

The donor's side of the equation

Living donors typically have life expectancy and overall health outcomes comparable to people who never donated. The remaining kidney grows slightly larger and takes on most of the work of two. Some Olympic athletes have donated kidneys and gone on to win medals afterward.

The risk isn't zero. No surgery's risk is zero. But it's small, it's well-understood, and you'll have full disclosure before you decide.

What paired donation chains have accomplished

Paired donation isn't theoretical. APKD and similar national programs have been running for nearly two decades. They've completed thousands of transplants that would not have happened otherwise. The Nobel Prize in Economics in 2012 was awarded in part for the matching algorithm that makes these chains possible.

The Ascension St. John partnership that John is enrolled in is brand new in Oklahoma. But the underlying program is well-proven.

What this means for John

Here's the part that should sink in. The reason John is asking strangers to be tested isn't because he's run out of friends or family who care. He's asking strangers because the program works through strangers. The whole point of paired donation is that the network of donors and recipients is national, not personal.

The statistics above mean a few specific things for John's situation:

• His wait without paired donation would have been years. With paired donation, it could be months.
• Each additional willing donor who enters APKD's pool shortens John's wait — and someone else's, and someone else's.
• The "I'm not his blood type" objection isn't real here. About a third of all kidney donors aren't a direct match for their intended recipient. The whole program exists for that exact category.
• If you start screening for John, even if you don't end up donating, the information you provide enters the national pool and may help match a chain that includes him.