Stories of Hope

Name: Chef Oliver Hale (Chef O)  Age: 71  Home: Kentwood, Michigan  Transplant: Kidney, twice    Why did you need a transplant, and when did it…

Before Leslie Palacios received two new corneas, her life was a blur.  The Grand Rapids mom of two struggled to read, to cook, to see…

Carla Bussell waited six years to take a good breath.   In 2009, shortly after the birth of her fourth son, she started experiencing shortness of…

As an Army sergeant and medic, Lisa Haney was trained to save lives. Then her own life was saved during the military discharge process in…

Name: David Rozelle Age: 86 Home: Kalamazoo, Michigan Transplant: Heart Why did you need a transplant and when did it happen? I had a serious…

Ben and Karen Hayes knew no one could care for the foster boy like they could A 7-year-old boy in the foster care system was…

I’m here because 32 years ago I received a life-changing gift. Sight is an easy thing to take for granted and, like so much in…

I was sitting in my living room, numb with grief, when the phone rang. My dad had died a few hours earlier. A woman named…

Sherry Johnson shares her experiences as a heart transplant patient who waits again Sherry Johnson was so exhausted she couldn’t walk her two little boys…

Gift of Life staffer’s kidney transplant gives her personal perspective If Taneisha Carswell doesn’t convince someone to be an organ donor right away, no worries….

Not much will stop this volunteer from telling his story Chris Kowalski won’t let much get in the way of telling people about organ donation….

Name: Kay Walters Age: 72 Home: Holt Transplant: Heart Why did you need a transplant and when did it happen? I had my heart transplant…

John Edmond barely gave it a thought as a woman from Gift of Life Michigan entered his young daughter’s room in the pediatric Intensive Care…

“I can look in the mirror every day and not be reminded of the hell I went through.” Curpri Sanders experienced the happiest time in…

Name: Guadalupe Alejos Age: 77 Home: Grand Rapids Transplant: Kidney at Trinity Health Kidney Transplant Center Why did you need a transplant and when did it…