Share this:
April is National Donate Life Month, and April 1 is Living Donor Day. More than 7,000 living-organ donations were reported in the U.S. in 2025, and kidney donations are the most common type of living-organ transplant.
An Arizona woman who is a Mayo Clinic retiree, along with several other fellow kidney donors, is proving that donating a kidney doesn't limit a person. In fact, donors can accomplish amazing feats, like climbing Africa's highest mountain.
Watch: From donation to Kilimanjaro: Living kidney donor defies limits
Video by: Mike Clayton, Senior Communications Specialist, Mayo Clinic
Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (2:07) is in the downloads at the end of this post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.
"My life has changed a lot. I am probably healthier now than I've ever been in my entire life — partly because of the climb that I'm doing, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with kidney donor athletes and 15 kidney donors all climbing," says Bethany Krom. "We will summit on World Kidney Day to show the world that those of us with one kidney can do anything that those with two kidneys can."
"This expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro is just an example of how donating a kidney does not need to limit you in any way," says Dr. Mikel Prieto, a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon.
"Being able to donate to someone and change their lives is something that's really amazing and makes me feel good every day," Bethany says. "And knowing what a difference it made on my life inspires me to help others to think about doing the same thing."
Bethany donated her kidney as part of the paired exchange program. It's an option for donors and intended recipients who aren't a match for transplant. In paired exchange donation, two or more organ-recipient pairs trade donors so that each recipient gets an organ that is compatible.
"Thanks to paired exchange, as long as you have a donor — it doesn't matter what blood group, doesn't matter what age or anything — if they pass the test to be a donor, but they are not a good match for you, we can use that kidney for somebody else," says Dr. Prieto.
"You can donate totally independent of when your person is and just name your person — actually, five people you can name — and whoever needs it first will get it," Bethany says.
"Basically, what we need is a healthy person — somebody that is not putting themselves at risk for donating their kidney," Dr. Prieto says.
"I knew that the person I was donating for was a grandpa. And as it turns out, the person I donated to is a grandfather as well. So I'm a grandma who gave so two grandpas will be able to watch their grandchildren grow up. That, for me, is very special," Bethany says.
"Donating a kidney is basically changing somebody's life: 'I'm going to help you. I'm going to change your life for the better,'" says Dr. Prieto.
And Bethany says, in her case, it's not just the recipient's life that was changed.
"For me, donation enhanced my life because I am more careful about how I take care of my body. And then I am exercising and eating good food," she says. "So I am healthier and doing all the things I did before and more, like climbing mountains."
