In 2004 I learned that my co-worker's husband had a kidney disease and needed a transplant. His brother had donated to him 3 years earlier and unfortunately the kidney disease came back and he needed another transplant. They had no more family to ask and the doctors thought it would be best to have a non-related donor this time. After a little research on kidney donation I decided to volunteer to see if I was a match for him. It turned out that I was and about 3 weeks later I donated my left kidney to him. Its been almost 6 years and he is doing great and I have had no lingering side effects from donating. As an athlete the only thing I have noticed since donating is I don't tolerate hot weather races as well as I did before but I'm ok with that since it has allowed someone else to have their life back.- Sonja Daniels
Sonja Daniels, a 36-year-old tri/du-athlete, lives in Duluth. She represented Team USA (see photo) at the ITU World Duathlon Championships in North Carolina last September.
