Parents will do anything for their children. But when one father’s health began to fail, his daughter gave him the most meaningful gift of all: life.

As kidney transplant wait times continue to grow nationwide, the University of Alabama at Birmingham is expanding access to life-sustaining transplants by adopting normothermic machine perfusion performed by 34 Lives, an advanced organ preservation technology shown to improve organ utilization and early transplant outcomes.

When Shannon Kline first learned she had polycystic kidney disease six years ago, she knew the diagnosis might one day lead to a kidney transplant. PKD runs deep in her family. Both her grandfather and mother received kidney transplants at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and her physicians had always monitored her kidney function closely. Still, the 44‑year‑old elementary school teacher thought the need for surgery was far in the future.

People who have received or donated organs for transplant understand why it’s often called “the gift of life”. Madison County resident and UAB Medicine patient Martha Yarbrough, 85, continues to cherish that gift since receiving a kidney from her sister in 1972.

Days after finishing her first semester of medical school, Amaris Elston awoke in a hospital room. She felt drained as her body started to adjust to its new reality.

Drew Ferguson, whose distinguished career in sports medicine at UAB and Children’s of Alabama spans over 40 years, understands the pursuit of excellence in health care. He has witnessed and been part of many care and safety advances for athletes, but he’s also benefitted personally from the progress of medical science. He’s received two kidney transplants at the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute that, in his words, have been a major part of his good fortune in life.

Amanda knew that Adam had Goodpasture syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that causes the body to make antibodies that attack the lungs and kidneys. “When I turned 18, Adam got really sick and was in and out of the hospital a lot,” Amanda recalled. “Ultimately, we were told that he needed a kidney transplant.”

Ashley Nichols, 32, shares her journey from managing her type 1 diabetes to navigating her rare kidney-pancreas transplant with the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute care team.

Clifton Booth had long considered becoming a living kidney donor, but he wasn’t sure it was the right course of action for him. Then, in fall 2017, he encountered an acquaintance who had been a donor and encouraged Booth to consider it.

Tabitha Derryberry, 49, is no stranger to chronic medical conditions. She has lupus, an inflammatory disease in which the immune system attacks joints, organs, and the skin. And when she was 35, Derryberry learned that her kidneys were failing due to having Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the body’s cells.

Frank Reeves says he has two birthdays. The first was the day he was born 62 years ago, and the second was May 12, 1998 – the day he received his kidney transplant. Reeves’ difficult path to that second birthday began when he was 35 and serving as a police officer in Dothan, Ala.

UAB Medicine, home to Alabama’s leading transplant program, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Transplant Institute, has been named the presenting medical partner of the Transplant Games of America when the biennial event comes to Birmingham in July 2024. Additionally, UAB’s Sports and Exercise Medicine team will be providing medical coverage for all athletes at the games.