Mary Anne Tinnell
When my husband, Bobby and I signed up to be organ donors it never occurred that one of us would ever need an organ transplant. In 2000 he became ill with an autoimmune liver disease, PSC. He was listed at one transplant center for three years and kept getting worse and worse. We were afraid he would become so ill he would not be healthy enough for a transplant. After research we found Multiple listing is allowed by OPTN policy. However, it is up to each hospitalto decide whether to accept you as a candidate AND if they accept a patient being multi listed. We chose another transplant center within ninety-eight miles (in a different OPO). He received his gift of life within five months and would have had his liver transplant even faster but each time they called with a liver; he was in the local hospital with fever/infections.
Bobby was so grateful to his donor and when he passed away in 2011 his wishes were carried-out to be a tissue donor.
As they say, “Don’t take your organs to Heaven, Heaven knows we need them here!”
Kirk Menefee
The realization I was soon going to die and would not be able to live a normal life was something that I never dreamed would happen to me. I was so strong and fit that at first I didn’t believe this was happening. But idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is unrelenting and like a thief in the night it slowly starts robbing your body’s ability to make oxygen for yourself and live a normal life. This disease took me down the longest darkest road I’ve ever been on. To not be able to do the normal things I had done all my life, like walk, climb the stairs, or just pick up my grandchildren and hug them was the lowest point in my life.
Now there was just one ray of light at the end of the tunnel, one miracle that I never took my eye off of because it gave me hope, strength, and a reason to continue to live—a lung transplant.
I was given a second chance at life. The thought of a stranger losing their life yet donating a life-saving organ so that I may return to a normal life is a debt I will never be able to repay and a responsibility that I will never forget.
I am now back to swimming, 2 miles a day, walking 18 holes of golf and playing tirelessly with my grandchildren. This miracle I’ve been given starts with thanking God, my donor, my family, and all the many doctors, surgeons and nurses.
To once again be able to live a normal life is the greatest gift I have ever been given. Sometimes you don’t realize how much you have until something like this is taken away from you and you look back at where you’ve been and what you’ve gone through and you feel so immensely grateful. There are no words to adequately describe being given a Second Chance at Life!
Beth Burbridge
I saw a neighbor’s post on our neighborhood Facebook page asking for help for his son Jackson. Jackson had been battling a rare form of kidney disease for years and desperately needed a transplant. Thinking of my own three sons at home, I knew that I wanted to help their family. Within a few months, I completely passed testing and was approved to donate one of my kidneys to Jackson. Immediately after surgery, my kidney started working for Jackson. Since then, he’s been on all sorts of adventures powered in part by my kidney! He is getting to live the life that he always should have due to my gift to him.
​
Desiree Ellis
My cousin but more like a sister needed a kidney. Majority of my life she went to dialysis. One day we were talking and I asked her “what if I go to the doctor to see if we are a match” we joke about it. And didn’t say nothing else about it. Days went by, I asked her again. She kept saying no but eventually she said we can try if your a match. We both went through all these testing/blood work, to see if we were capable. The results finally came back. And we were a match!! She kept asking me “am I sure that I want to go through this, and if I want to back out, I can” Fast forward to 2/24/15, I did it, I donated my kidney to my cousin, that’s more like a sister to me. But unfortunately my sister recently passed away 6/22/24 from a triple bypass heart surgery.
Mark Robertson
My name is Mark Robertson, after being on dialysis for almost 9 years (18 years old) I was blessed with a kidney transplant in May of 2025. As I was going through the motions of dialysis, I felt my life was over. As GOD blessed me with a great GOD fearing family along with my dialysis center family, who would constantly keep me focused on life. He then sent my girlfriend (now wife) to also keep me focused on the joys of life. As she brought joy to my life, he then blessed me with a little girl and with the family I know felt my life had purpose. Shortly afterwards I was blessed with a kidney. Currently I'm a father of 5 and enjoying every moment of life.
Kyleen Kelly
My son, Mark Kelly, was diagnosed with liver disease age 5 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. A liver transplant was a risky operation in 1967 so a liver shunt was done. Mark led a normal life till age 37 when he was told a liver transplant was his only chance of surviving and October 18, 1999, he was listed at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky.. The next 7 months he was in and out of the hospital weekly. On May 15th, 2000, while in ICU at Jewish Hospital his status went to #1 Nationwide, for 24 hours, for a liver transplant. The hospital chaplain had become a family friend after 7 months and he suggested we make pre-arrangements for Mark's funeral. I immediately called our minister at Northeast Christian Church and ask for he and the elders of our church to come to the ICU and pray over Mark. A sense of peace came over all of us and we truly believed a DONOR WOULD BE FOUND in time. At 9:30 p.m. that evening we were told a DONOR HAD BEEN FOUND for Mark. Our lives were forever changed by a 22 year old young man by the name of MACON GILES. He was killed in a 4 Wheeler accident in Western Kentucky. Mark made a remarkable recovery from the liver transplant after spending 67 days in hospital and rehab . Now age 62, Mark takes 1 anti-rejection pill twice a day. A true miracle given by our ANGEL MACON GILES. We met his family 2 years after transplant and remain connected to this day.
I have remained involved with Second Chance At Life now over 25 years. My mission has and will always be to reduce the waiting list for transplants and to promote organ, eye and tissue donation when and where I can.
Richard Seedle
My name is Richard Seedle and I was in need of a bilateral lung transplant . Diagnosed in 2015 with pulmonary fibrosis and was told that maybe 2 years without a transplant. Dr. Baz was a fantastic Dr. I went to all my visits, did all my testing then was eventually on 10 liters of oxygen and my wife Carol had to take me in a wheelchair, because I was hardly able to walk any distance at all. I believe early May of 2017 Dr. Baz called me to says they had harvested two lungs for me but one was unusable. He gave my wife and I about an hour to decide what we wanted to do. I only wanted to do this once so we decided to wait. After about 10 days went by and I was second guessing myself, thinking I had made the very worst mistake of my life. I could tell I was declining pretty quick. About 10 days later it was Carol and Mom's bingo night (Mom had lived with us since the death of my Father in 2012). They were just leaving when my phone rang, I told them to hold on it was UK calling. Dr. Baz told me they had two lungs and to head to the hospital. Which we did after a few tears of joy. Our Daughter Tiffany joined us and they prepped me and I met my surgeon Dr. Shaffe. Not sure of spelling. He was pretty worn out and wanted to rest for a few hours so my family and I just talked and prayed until Dr. Shaffe came in and asked if I was ready. This was May 17th the day of my transplant. They took me into surgery, asked what kind of music I liked, they put it on and that's all I remember until I woke up a few days later with tubes and hoses everywhere. Of course I did the rehab and went home after only 18 days. The first year was a little rough, due to some blood clots, rejection and etc. The most wonderful thing was unbeknownst to me at the time of my surgery, my daughter was pregnant with our very first grandchild. I didn't find out until Father's day. Our granddaughter was bron that December 2017. I was her babysitter after our Daughter went back to work. Today we are best buddies and fishing partners. Without someone caring enough to give the gift of life, God, and all the wonferful Doctors and nurses I would never had been able to experience the joy 😊 of having her in my life. Also to be thankful each and every day since being given my 2nd chance.​
