My Kidney Donation Story: Justin King

I donated to a friend in December 2020, and it all started when his wife saw my veins.

My ministry does a lot of things in the summer for youth. At one of the youth camps, I had a short-sleeved shirt on and my friend’s wife saw my arm veins. She’s a nurse, and she said, “I love when people have such good veins.”

I told her I donated blood regularly and she asked me my blood type. I told her O positive. She said, “You wouldn’t happen to have an extra kidney, would you?” I thought she was joking. I said, “No I think I need mine. Why, who needs a kidney?” It was her husband, my friend—he needed a kidney but hadn’t told anyone outside his family.

Several family members had tried to donate but none had been approved. When I got home, I discussed it with my wife. This was around July 2020, during the peak of COVID. We went through the testing and I was a match.

Three years before that, we were doing a 5K fundraiser for one of the church camps. During the race, my friend was struggling. I finished the 5K first, then ran back over a mile to finish running the race with him.

So, when I told him I was a match, I said, “Do you remember when I came back to help you finish that race? Well, it looks like I’m going to get to help you finish another race.” It was a pretty neat way to get to tell him.

He did not even have to experience dialysis, though he was on the verge. My donation and his transplant surgery took place in the same hospital in December 2020. He’s in better health now than he’s ever been.

As a result of my donation, I began participating in the Donor Games. Before my donation, I was very active in fitness—I worked out five to six times a week and did some local CrossFit competitions. When I was considering donating, that was a big question—whether donating would affect my fitness and activity levels. My medical team said it wouldn’t affect any of that, which was a pretty big factor that weighed in my decision to become a donor.

When I donated, I told my wife, “I may not be in the shape I was, but that’s not important. I will continue to do what I can do.” While I was recovering, I became a member of a few support groups on Facebook and I saw someone share something about the Donor Games. That rejuvenated my training—I thought, I still have something to train for.

Since then, I have taken my fitness to an even more serious level than before my donation. I gave myself some time to recover after my donation, then I jumped into the Donor Games competitions in 2022. It has been really fun. It’s become a regular part of my life now. Every week I’m doing something to try to improve for the Donor Games.

About the Author

Justin lives in Alabama with his wife, Alisha, two of his five children, Taylor, Gideon, Cayden, Kasdin, and Laila, and two dogs, Buddy and Marley. He is an associate minister at his local church and published his first book, Wayward Warrior, in 2020. He enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf. His passions are faith, family, fitness, and his furry friends.