Kidney transplants save the lives of thousands of people each year. Kidneys are transplanted from both deceased and living donors.
Because very few people die under circumstances where they can be organ donors, many kidney patients are alive because of living donors – people who donate one of their two kidneys. During each of the past five years, more than 5,500 transplants were made possible by living donors.
While many living donors are family or friends of the kidney recipients, it is becoming increasingly common for people to step forward to donate kidneys to people they do not know. Just as millions of people donate blood each year, living kidney donors are inspired to make life better for others.
