Faces of the Games

KAREN GIESY & JIM SEALS

Whitefish & Polson, Montana

Karen Giesy

Kidney transplants run in Karen Giesy’s family. She, along with four out of her five siblings, suffers from polycystic kidney disease. When it became apparent that her kidneys had failed, she started dialysis in March of 2003, spending three hours tethered to a machine three times a week. “I was hoping to win back some freedom with a kidney transplant, but because I have Type B blood which is the rarest of all blood types, I knew my chances of getting a match were slim.”

 

Despite the odds, Karen prayed for a guardian angel. To her surprise, she met him in Jim Seals, a 62-year-old retired Army medevac pilot, who had decided to donate one of his kidneys to a stranger in need. Karen turned out to be that lucky somebody.

 

How does a healthy person who has never had surgery decide to undergo a major operation to save the life of a stranger?

 

For Jim, the story began more than 30 years ago, when his brother-in-law suffered kidney failure and needed a transplant. “I grew up with him, and I loved him very much,” he said. “He received a kidney transplant which gave him a longer life, and our whole family was so grateful.”

 

Last winter, Jim watched a TV interview featuring a New York man who decided to donate a kidney to a complete stranger. “The broadcast really touched my heart,” says Jim. “I just couldn’t get the story out of my mind.”

 

“I kept thinking there’s something I need to do and I started feeling that if I didn’t do it, I’d be letting somebody down,” Jim said. “The potential benefit to the quality of life for someone so far outweighed the potential risk to me.”