This 25-year-old guy donated a kidney to a stranger — and saved 3 lives in the process
One selfless kidney donation sparked a chain reaction, giving three people the gift of life just in time for the holidays.
Ky Kanaman is the man who started it all, after reading a book that detailed the outrageously small percentage of patients in need who receive kidney transplants. The 25-year-old tells Yahoo Lifestyle that he couldn’t get the startling statistics out of his head, so he began doing research on the process of donating his own kidney.
“It was really never a hard decision. I may not have known the person that would receive my kidney, but I knew that I was helping someone in need, and that was more than I could have ever asked for,” he explains. “The ball got rolling, and the next thing I knew, I was a match!”
But the Texas native never could have imagined just how far the ball would continue to roll after he went through with the surgery.
It turns out that the 21-year-old girl, Victoria “Dayshanae” Hosman, at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., who Kanaman donated his kidney to already had a friend willing to give her own. The decision to give Kanaman’s kidney to Hosman instead didn’t deter the friend from helping someone else. Continuing Kanaman’s kindness, she went into surgery as well and provided her organ to a man in Wichita who had yet to find a match.
The man’s mother became the third donor within the chain shortly thereafter, when she was inspired by the graciousness of the other participants and joined the same University of Kansas Hospital program as Kanaman. She got matched with a third person in need.
“When I found out about the chain … it’s difficult to explain the feelings that overwhelm you,” Kanaman says. “You set out to help one person, and all the sudden, you’re a part of helping three. It’s really bigger than you and life at that point.”
However, the experience came full circle when Kanaman finally met Hosman in person on Wednesday, along with the other donors.
“Meeting Dayshanae put the actual meaning behind it. You realize that what you did was much bigger than you could ever imagine. You can’t help but shake the feeling that it was all meant to be and that it was a part of my purpose in life,” Kanaman says. “It was one of the most emotional experiences of my life. It will be something that defines who I am for the rest of my life, and I can’t thank everyone involved enough for the opportunity to help out.”
Aside from his selfless donation, Kanaman also shares that he and his wife, Nicole, live with two adults with intellectual disabilities to help them live their lives to the fullest. Still, he maintains that he’s “just a normal 25-year-old guy” — although most would probably say that he’s extraordinary.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
• 23-year-old woman saves a man from jumping off a bridge: ‘God has a purpose for everyone’
• Teacher will donate kidney to student she has never met: ‘It’s just something I know I’m supposed to do’
• Borderline Bar regular who survived Route 91 shooting speaks out on tragedy: ‘It’s the suckiest community to be a part of, but it’s also the greatest’
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