Caroline Murray of West Hartford, a 2014 Conard High School graduate, donated her left kidney Tuesday in a procedure at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Caroline Murray and her. longtime boyfriend, Neil Droney – the inspiration for Murray’s kidney donation. Courtesy of Caroline Murray

Introduction by Ronni Newton, story by Caroline Murray

Caroline Murray is in her mid-20s and works in a doctor’s office. She is a West Hartford native, a 2014 graduate of Conard High School, and a 2018 graduate of UConn where she obtained a B.A. in psychology.

She now has just one kidney.

“I’m recovering well and hoping to go home tomorrow,” Murray said in a text. “I am so passionate about organ donation and how it saves lives.”

Murray is recovering at Yale New Haven Hospital and hopes to be discharged Thursday, two days after she donated her left kidney through the National Kidney Registry (NKR), a Long Island-based organization that has facilitated 4,278 living donor transplants according to its website.

She has no idea who the recipient is, but her living donation set off a chain which will allow three transplants to take place, to provide a new lease on life to people whom she will likely never meet.

Her motivation to become a living donor, however, was inspired by someone who is very close to her.

Murray was a star player on the Conard girls soccer team – earning all-conference honors several times and named captain as a senior. Through the Conard soccer program she met Neil Droney, who was an accomplished player on the boys team. In October, they will have been a couple for 10 years, Murray said.

Eleven years ago, Droney’s life was saved by organ donation.

Droney, also motivated to help others, works as a nurse at Hartford Hospital, in a cardiac unit. Because his immune system is compromised due to the transplant (one would never know that to look at him), he did a stint in the COVID call center in the early days of the pandemic. He’s back on his regular floor now, Murray said.

“We gained a new family member today,” Jean Murray, Caroline Murray’s mom, said in a social media post Tuesday. “We don’t know if it’s a man or a woman, child or adult, or what part of the country they live in, but my brave daughter Caroline Murray donated a kidney this morning to this lucky stranger and that makes them part of our family.”

Here’s the rest of the story.

Caroline Murray, up and about at Yale New Haven Hospital following her kidney donation. Courtesy of Caroline Murray

Caroline Murray’s story, in her own words

We all have that one thing in life we know we are meant to do. Yesterday I accomplished mine. Yesterday at Yale New Haven Hospital I donated my left kidney to a complete stranger through the NKR as a non-directed donor. By donating my kidney to a stranger I was able to create a three transplant kidney chain. As a result, three people received their life-saving kidney transplants yesterday. Although I don’t know who or where my recipient is, I know my left kidney is going to do amazing things in its new home.

For the last year and a half I have been going through the extensive, physically and emotionally exhausting process to become approved as a living kidney donor. After countless labs, scans, evaluations, set backs, hard work, and waiting, I was finally approved as a donor in June. I was then entered into the National Kidney Registry, and a few weeks later was matched with my recipient and the transplant chain was created.

Living donation is very close to my heart. My boyfriend, but more importantly my best friend and person I love more than anything, is with me today because of his life-saving liver transplant. Neil was so fortunate that his dad was a match and was able to donate a lobe of his liver to save his life.

Not everyone in need of an organ transplant is as lucky as Neil. Some people don’t have family/friends who are able to step up to donate. This is where non-directed donors like me come into the picture. Stepping up to donate with no recipient in mind gave me the opportunity to take someone off the transplant waiting list.

Once I became educated about living kidney donation and realized I had the power to save someone’s life, to give someone a second chance at life, a life free from dialysis, I didn’t have to think twice about it, I knew I was meant to be a living kidney donor.

I am so thankful everyday to have Neil and the Droney family in my life. Knowing what Neil and his family went though when Neil unexpectedly went into acute liver failure back in 2009, and thinking about what my life would be like today if I didn’t have Neil by my side and the opportunity to create a life with him, I knew I wanted to give back. I wanted to bring that same hope and a brighter future to someone and their family.

I have experienced what a life-saving organ transplant can do for someone. I have watched Neil grow and thrive with his new liver for 10 years now. He has accomplished his dream of becoming a nurse after the amazing care and positive impact his nurses at Yale had on him. You would never know Neil had a liver transplant based on the life he lives. I hope my recipient thrives with their new kidney and their life on dialysis and kidney failure becomes a distant memory.

The main thing I have learned throughout my donation process is how important my family/friends are. I have the most supportive, loving people in my life. Although it was hard for my family to accept the fact that I was donating one of my perfectly healthy kidneys to a complete stranger, once they took the time to become educated about the process and saw how much it meant to me, they have stuck by my side and have loved me and supported me through the whole process. The people I love created a video of the most thoughtful loving messages. The video brought me to tears and reminded me how much I love every one of them and how truly blessed I am to have all of them in my life. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m so thankful for the life I live and the people who make my life so special.

No one should have to wait for a life-saving organ transplant, and no family should have to watch their loved one suffer. Many people age off the transplant waiting list or become too ill to qualify for a transplant.

If becoming an organ donor, whether a living donor or deceased donor is something you feel passionate about, please take the time to educate yourself and those around you. Raise awareness about the shortage of organs and If it’s something you feel like you’re meant to do, give someone the ultimate gift.

Give the gift of life.

The entire transplant team at Yale has been amazing. The support and care I have received has been exceptional. Donating my kidney has truly been a life changing experience.

Life can be cruel, but life can also be so beautiful. Make life beautiful, share your spare and donate life!
Now onto the road to recovery 💚💙

https://www.donatelife.net/types-of-donation/
https://www.kidneyregistry.org/living_donors.php#overview

#kidneytransplant #livingdonor #kidneydonor
#shareyourspare #kidneystrong #donatelife
#donatelifenewengland #savealife
#yalenewhavenhopsital #nationalkidneyregistry

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