Veteran donated kidney to save a stranger. Then becomes one of America's rarest organ donors after saving another life.
Organ donation can be life-changing for both the donor and the recipient. So when an air force veteran, Lindsay Gutierrez, was struggling to find meaning in civilian life after her service was over, she turned to organ donation to save two people's lives. She became a rare living double organ donor in the country by donating one kidney and part of her liver and learned something important along the way, per We Are The Mighty.
Lindsay volunteered to donate her organs twice for life-saving surgeries. Her kidney went to a veteran and saved his life. She also donated 40 percent of her liver to another recipient. Many people are unaware that liver tissue can regenerate over time, making it possible to donate for a living donor, according to the outlet. 103,223 people were on the organ donation waiting list as of September 2024, per organdonor.gov. Out of this, 89,792 people needed a kidney, while 9,424 people needed a liver.
"I’m now one of only about 280 people in the United States — just 0.000084% of the population — who have become dual living organ donors. It’s a statistic that reflects not just rarity, but the incredible potential each of us has to give life," the air force veteran explained. During her time in the military, Lindsay served in the Security Forces, stationed at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom. She was also deployed to Qatar and Djibouti.
Lindsay suffered from a traumatic brain injury in 2014 after an accident during one of her deployments. However, the injury hadn't been diagnosed even years later. She finished her service and was discharged in 2016. However, settling into civilian life wasn't the easiest thing for her, along with being treated for service-related injuries, like many other veterans. She was finally diagnosed with traumatic brain injury years later. "That moment became a turning point. It opened my eyes to how many veterans are quietly suffering with undiagnosed or untreated mental health and neurological conditions." However, she found her purpose and decided to work for veterans and provide them with advanced care and support.
The woman finished a doctorate in social work and two master's degrees before she started working for veterans who were going through the same challenges that she had faced. "My journey began, unexpectedly, when a friend told me about someone they knew who was in need of an organ transplant. That conversation planted a seed in my heart. Months later, I saw an ad in the Military Times for Donor Outreach for Veterans (DOVE), a nonprofit that connects veterans in need of a kidney with living donors and I knew I had to act." She donated her left kidney altruistically to a veteran in May 2022 and part of her liver to another person in April 2024.
"What many people don’t realize is that living organ donation is not only lifesaving, it’s also safe for donors. The remaining kidney typically grows about 20–40% larger in size over the course of a few months after donation. It adapts to handle up to 75–80% of the total kidney function that two kidneys would normally provide, which is more than enough for a healthy life," Lindsay pointed out. "Regarding the liver, it is the only organ in the human body that fully regenerates, typically returning to nearly full size within 6 to 8 weeks after injury," she added.
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